Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), the world’s most popular social platform, is pretty serious when it comes to security, so to ensure better security and protection for its users, it has partnered with ESET, as announced on Wednesday. The security vendor’s software will be directly added into the social network’s abuse detection and prevention systems.
The more the better
Facebook has been active in fighting malware and has partnered with several vendors, of which ESET is the third. Prior to this, the social media giant partnered with F-Secure and Trend Micro for the purpose of protecting its users from links and content of a malicious nature. Facebook hopes it will be able to protect its 1.35 billion users by blocking malicious links and harmful sites with the help of these three system which will prevent malware from populating users’ News Feeds and Messages.
“A larger number of providers increases the chances that malware will get caught and cleaned up, which will help people on Facebook keep their information more secure,” Facebook said in a post.
This has been a persistent problem with all major social networking sites, including Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), which was infected by malware hidden behind links that look tempting or with websites that are similarly trumped up. With every click or share, the malware goes on spreading.
Facebook at risk of malware attacks
Facebook’s popularity has made it a favorite platform for attackers who wish to introduce malware. One of the most prominent pieces of malware is Koobface, which debuted in 2008 and has made its presence felt several times since then. A study was conducted by BitDefender, a security vendor, in 2010, and it concluded that nearly 20% of Facebook users are affected by the malware.
Security software has been incorporated by the social network, and it has helped in shoring up defenses. The results have been positive, as malware attacks have declined substantially. Though reduced, the threat is still there, hence, Facebook has added ESET, based in Slovakia, to its mix of defenses.
The effectiveness of an antivirus programs depends on many factors like up-to-date detection signatures, behavior-based detection techniques, and others., and Facebook users hope the newly added engine will cover them all.
