Facebook beefs up security with new anti-virus partners
Posted: November 09, 2012
We've all seen strange things being posted on our friends' Facebook pages, some of us have possibly been tagged in posts for products or places we've never heard of before. Facebook is great for keeping in touch with friends and family and their lives, but it can also be a treasure trove for those who want to act maliciously against users. Finally, Facebook has begun to take these threats seriously, and has partnered with some great new anti-virus companies to help protect us.
We've all seen strange things being posted on our friends' Facebook pages, some of us have possibly been tagged in posts for products or places we've never heard of before. Facebook is great for keeping in touch with friends and family and their lives, but it can also be a treasure trove for those who want to act maliciously against users. Finally, Facebook has begun to take these threats seriously, and has partnered with some great new anti-virus companies to help protect us.
Facebook is stepping up its security focus to better protect users from malicious links and malware. The social networking giant on Tuesday announced seven new additions to the its Antivirus Marketplace.
The new security partners include Avast, AVG, Avira, Kaspersky, Panda, Total Defense, and Webroot. Those companies join existing partners Microsoft, McAfee, Norton, TrendMicro, and Sophos to offer Facebook users desktop and mobile anti-virus software.
Some of the software is easily found on the companies’ own sites; Facebook just offers a centralized point from which to download. But there are a few special offers. Kaspersky Lab has a six-month software subscription to its Pure Total Security Suite and Security for Mac products exclusively for Facebook users, the company says.
Free six-month subscriptions from McAfee and Webroot are also available in Facebook’s AV Marketplace, while Norton is offering a free download of its mobile security software for Android phones and tablets.
Other downloads, like Avira’s, AVG’s, and Avast’s free anti-virus software products, are always free. AVG partnered with Facebook to provide date from its LinkScanner service, which alerts users when links to external sites are malicious.
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Biz Tip from Tech Hive