Norton Survey Shows Royal Wedding Crowds Spilling Onto Cyber Streets

WHAT/WHY:

The royal wedding of the United Kingdom's Prince William to Kate Middleton is fast becoming a major international event. As modern technology enables people worldwide to follow the young couple and impending wedding festivities closer than ever before, this is truly an "e- Royal Wedding!"

A new study from Norton, the world leaders in Internet security, shows people are flocking to follow news of the royal wedding on "this side of the pond," too.

In fact, 62 percent of Americans surveyed said they are likely to follow the British royal wedding, with 32 percent of those already keeping up with the royal wedding news at least every few days (some as often as once a day, or even multiple times a day!).

As the big day nears and media attention increases, people will look to online searches and outlets to keep up on all-things "Will & Kate."

Of respondents, 38 percent will be going online for their royal wedding news; more than a quarter will be watching the wedding on a computer, laptop or mobile device live or after the fact, and 53% will potentially share their thoughts about the wedding online.

Norton cautions these online wedding-followers and well-wishers that this global event will – as other major global events have done previously – attract cybercriminals looking to capitalize on the deluge of online activity.

As of March, security researchers at Norton have already begun tracking malicious online activity such as spam designed to steal personal information and links to harmful sites hidden in search engine results.

Norton has pulled together a quick check-list for those royal wedding fans to help them steer clear of cybercriminals:

• Think before you click – Beware of emails or links that promise "leaked" footage, offer "scandalous" pictures, or purport to have "secret" information. Cybercriminals take advantage of sensational and shocking headlines to get you to click on links that could infect your computer

• Go with what you know - While any site could potentially be risky, it's best to avoid clicking on sites you've never heard of that show up in your search results. Stick to the official royal wedding website or go directly to reputable news sites to get the latest news and videos of the wedding

• Protect your computer – Use trusted security software on your computer to block threats and make sure you're keeping it up-to-date. Use Norton Safe Web Lite and Norton Safe Web for Facebook – free, downloadable tools that identify risky sites before users click on them in search results and on their Facebook news feeds

EXPERTS:

Norton security experts are on-hand to share tips with users on how they can protect themselves from online threats and stay out of the hands of cybercriminals.

FACT SHEET:

A concise, easy-to-digest document that highlights the key findings from the survey.

SURVEY DATA:

Impulse research surveyed a random sample of 1047 men and women, 18+ who plan to follow news coverage of William and Kate's royal wedding, carefully selected to closely match US population demographics and the respondents are representative of American men and women 18+.

WHEN:

Interviews with Norton security experts available upon request.

CONTACT:

Josh Barnes

Edelman for Norton

415-652-7117

joshua.barnes@edelman.com