Facebook and McAfee announced on January 13, 2009 a partnership through which over 350 million Facebook users will benefit at no cost of a free six-month subscription to McAfee's Internet Security Suite security software. After this six-month period, Facebook users will have the possibility to extend their license at a special discount price.
Besides the free software, Facebook users will benefit from a whole range of new tools built to enhance their and Facebook's security at the same time providing a safer and virus-free environment on the social networking platform.
Users who had their account infected or compromised now have the possibility to employ a new and innovative tool developed by Facebook and McAfee, which will help them re-secure their account. Custom McAfee technology will scan and clean the user's computer before allowing them to log on Facebook again. This tool incorporates McAfee technology and will be provided at no costs for the user.
Facebook has declined to financially capitalize on its users and will provide (alongside McAfee) a series of tutorials and educational materials to help them raise their security knowledge.
McAfee was chosen as the premiere software security provider after Facebook spent serious time on a review process of major security companies. Products like McAfee SiteAdvisor (website rating technology) and McAfee Active Protection (technology for almost instantly blocking known and unknown online threats) have been critical in the reviewing process.
It is unsure whether these products will be included in Facebook's new security measures aimed at detecting and blocking suspicious activities in real-time.
Regarding this topic, Jake Brill, Facebook representative and Project Manager in Facebook's Integrity Team, had this to say, “We invest in dedicated teams and advanced technical systems that detect and block suspicious behavior. When we find a message with a link to a fake login page or other malicious website, we prevent it from being sent and delete all instances of it from the site.” He added that “We also work with third parties to get malicious sites added to browser blacklists or removed completely.”
Users can learn more on this offer by visiting McAfee's Facebook page and clicking on the “Protect Your PC”
tab.
Facebook has set up a
Security Page for updates and tutorials on issues and topics concerning the site's security.
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