Facebook gets serious about malware

Facebook and McAfee, a leading maker of anti-virus software, are partnering to fight a common foe: Malware that has been attacking Facebook in far greater numbers as the social networking site grows to 350 million users. MacAfee will give Facebook users a complimentary six-month subscription to McAfee's Internet Security Suite. After that, Facebook users will be able to get discounts on the software, New York Times reports.

As part of the deal, McAfee will become Facebook's exclusive provider of consumer security software for one year.

"Facebook is very serious about security and has made significant efforts to protect its users and service by investing in dedicated teams and sophisticated systems, and this partnership with McAfee furthers that mission," said Todd Gebhart, executive vice president and general manager, McAfee Consumer, Mobile and Small Business, in a press release. "We believe our partnership will make a real difference in the battle to secure the Internet by giving so many more people access to industry leading technology from McAfee."  

Just how serious is the problem? Facebook points out in the press release that research shows that most consumers, nearly 80 percent, do not have updated anti-virus, an enabled firewall and anti-spyware. Nearly 50 percent of them have expired anti-virus software.

"We have seen an absolute huge rise in malware worldwide over the past 12 months, probably more than the previous five years combined," said David DeWalt, McAfee's chief executive in the press release. "We are seeing a lot more malware specifically designed and targeted at large social networking applications. These are just the trends in the industry."

For more on Facebook and McAfee:
- see this New York Times article

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