Royal Wedding Name Generator Poses Online Security Threat
Every so often, a fun "game" will appear on Twitter that allows users to discover some of their wacky alter-egos. For example, you can find your "DJ name" by putting the letters "DJ" in front of your biggest fear, or your "Star Wars name" is apparently obtained by inserting a random space inside your favorite pasta dish. Those types of memes have the potential to go massively viral because they're easy to participate in (everyone has a favorite pasta dish, right?) and when you see your friends doing them, you want to play along too.
But if you're typically quick to jump on these trends, you might want to be careful. As noted by Mic, a recent social media game tells users that they can find their "royal wedding guest name" by revealing three things: a grandparent's name, the street they grew up on, and the name of their first pet.
If that sounds a little fishy, it's because it most definitely is. You might notice that those prompts are eerily similar to the "security questions" you have to answer while setting up an important account — like one for online banking or your email. By revealing that information, you might be making yourself susceptible to identity theft — especially if you use the same security questions for different accounts. (Or worse, if your passwords are comprised of your first pet's name.)
With that in mind, it would probably be wise to pass on this particular social media name game. And while you're at it, you might want to consider setting up two-factor authentication on your accounts, or review our list of the most common passwords used by people online. Identity theft is definitely scary, but there are ways you can protect yourself and keep your data safe.
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Related: 5 Ways to Keep Your iPhone From Getting Hacked
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