Cyber Criminals On The Loose
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011You won’t find them lurking around Westminster Abbey and they definitely didn’t receive an invite in the mail, but these unwanted guests are trying to crash next week’s royal wedding.
Cybercriminals looking to cash in on Prince William and Catherine Middleton’s big day have already begun targeting Australian internet users, hiding viruses and malicious software within emails falsely claiming to be royally relevant.
Internet security group Norton on Tuesday warned wedding watchers to be alert for online spam emails or dodgy websites promising juicy royal gossip, such as details of the wedding dress or photos of Prince William’s bachelor party.
It’s found that after television, the most common place for Australians to seek information about the April 29 wedding is online.
Three times as many people are expected to follow the event online as in newspapers, five times as many than in magazines and ten times as much as those over radio, Norton’s research shows.
“Potentially one in five Australians who plan on following the royal wedding are at risk of becoming a victim of cybercrime,” Norton said in its report.
Internet usage spikes in the lead up to major international events and cybercrims began circulating viruses masked as leaked footage, scandalous images or other intriguing content as recently as March.