It could be funny and adorable when you join in on the “What’s your royal name?” or “Your porn star name would be…” shenanigans, adding your pet’s name or street name to your real moniker to achieve humorous ends. But by doing so, you could be giving up the goods to thieves.

In honor of Friday’s royal wedding (didja hear about that?) many on Facebook and Twitter were posting variations on the always popular name game, where you add in a grandparent’s first name, a pet, and your street name. and somehow end up with a name like Lady Buffy St. Roverington Applewood the XII.

But internet security firm Sophos says (via SmartMoney) says posting the results of such a thing is like handing over a key to cyber thieves to get your password and make it past security questions.

Think about it: How often is a past or present pet’s name involved in your password? What about security questions which ask you what street you grew up on, or your grandma’s first name? Then you go and plaster that info all over social networks, and voila, a thieves’ paradise!

Graham Cluley, technology consultant at Sophos advises: “Don’t post this kind of personal information onto the internet. The few seconds worth of amusement you may get by telling people your royal wedding guest name is not worth the potential pain of having your identity stolen.” Also, you can provide false answers to those questions if you’d like to further protect your info.

Your Own Royal Wedding Security Breach? [SmartMoney]

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