engine - 6:07 pm on Apr 25, 2012 (gmt 0)

Facebook Announces Antivirus Marketplace [facebook.com]

That’s why we’re thrilled to announce the Antivirus Marketplace and welcome Microsoft, McAfee, TrendMicro, Sophos, and Symantec to the Facebook Security family. Now, all of Facebook’s more than 900 million users will be protected by the combined intelligence of these industry leaders. Our URL blacklist system, which scans trillions of clicks per day, will now incorporate the malicious URL databases from these security companies to augment our existing level of protection. This means that whenever you click a link on our site, you benefit not just from Facebook’s existing protections, but the ongoing vigilance of the world’s leading corporations involved in computer security. At the moment, less than 4% of content shared is spam (compared to nearly 90% of email) and we are looking forward to making even more progress in the future. Beyond the expansion of our URL blacklist system, we are excited to announce the new AV Marketplace for all Facebook users. Accessible from the Facebook Security Page, or directly at [on.fb.me...] people will be able to select a free download from one of our anti-virus partners. We believe that arming our users with anti-virus software will help empower them to stay safe no matter where they are on the web.