San Francisco — Constantly striving to safeguard its one billion users, social networking giant Facebook Inc., earlier this year, debuted their Anti-Virus Marketplace which allows users to download free trials of various anti-virus software. Today the company announced an expansion of its Anti-Virus Marketplace that will see the company partner with seven new companies and new tools for mobile devices in their attempt to keep Facebook users free and clear of malware.
The social media humongous has just added avast!, AVG, Avira, Kaspersky, Panda, Total Defense, and Webroot to its Antivirus Marketplace — a place on its security page where users can easily download six-month free trials of anti-malware software, in addition to existing products from Microsoft, McAfee, TrendMicro, Sophos, and Symantec.
Describing the move, the company said, “Our new anti-virus partners bring with them both the latest software and comprehensive intelligence,” the Facebook Security team wrote in a blog post.
Here is what Facebook described about the new initiative and possibility of future partnerships and new tools:
“As with our existing partners, these seven companies will help protect Facebook’s community of over a billion users by improving our URL blacklist system. This system scans trillions of clicks per per day, and before each click, the system consults the databases of all our AV Marketplace partners to make sure the website you are about to visit is safe. This means that whenever you click a link on our site you are protected both by Facebook and 12 of the industry leaders in computer security. We will be cooperating with these partners more in the future, and look forward to announcing new tools soon.”
However, since it rolled out in April, more than 30 million Facebook users have frequented the marketplace page, which originally featured software from McAfee, Norton, Sophos, Trend Micro, and Microsoft. The software can be used for free for six months to a year, depending on what a user downloads.
“This means that whenever you click a link on our site you are protected both by Facebook and 12 of the industry leaders in computer security,” the blog said.
Besides, new partner Kaspersky Lab will also frequently furnish online security and privacy tips on Facebook’s security page, in addition to its six-month free trial of its PC and Mac products.
“”When Kaspersky Lab was founded 15 years ago, we could only imagine the ways technology would interconnect the citizens of the Internet and what a huge impact this would have on individuals and society as a whole,” President Steve Orenberg said in a statement.
Also, back in July, Facebook intensified their anti-virus initiative a little more proactive by launching the Malware Checkpoint. With the checkpoint, Facebook users can self-enroll in the anti-virus protection. Before, Facebook would have to identify an actionable threat in order for users to utilize the software.
“It takes a blend of online awareness and top-notch security technology to be protected online,” said Costin Raiu, director of Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis team. “One cannot take place without the other — and by partnering with Facebook, Kaspersky Lab intends to provide both.”
Among other things, the companies also added to Facebook’s URL blacklist system, which keeps track of malicious links. Facebook states that this system scans trillions of clicks each day to make sure that the links being shared are safe to visit, according to the company. The seven new companies will also contribute to this system and provide new tools that have yet to be announced.
Apart from extending this generous support Facebook also implemented phishing protections and malware checkpoints earlier this year as well as a new email address, phish@fb.com, and asked users to file reports when they comes across anything shady on the network that attempts to snatch personal information. Its all part of Facebook’s continuing efforts to make its network more secure.
Of course, this makes Facebook better able to root out potential threats on the site before they become major problems. Adding mobile software is key to security since a growing number of users access Facebook through mobile devices. Keeping your data safe is important to the social network. After all, your data is what it runs on.
To download free anti-virus software for PC, Mac, and mobile, visit Facebook’s AV Marketplace.