With over 800 million active users, Facebook is a prime target for cybercrooks armed with sneaky scams and malicious links – finding a way to secure a realm where over a billion links are shared every day is no simple task. Fast Company just published an article announcing that Facebook has taken a major step forward to become a safer place by entering a formal partnership with Websense®.
In the article, Fast Company explains that while Facebook has enlisted in help from individuals in the past to report bugs as part of a “bounty” program, these security experts were looking for systemic snags, not necessarily spam or phishing issues. Websense, on the other hand, provides a higher level of security with the Websense ThreatSeeker® Cloud, where every external link shared on Facebook is scanned for viruses and malware in real-time. This opens the door for businesses who may have been hesitant in using Facebook in the past due to security issues.
Below is an excerpt from the article:
Charles Renert, senior director of security research for Websense, told Fast Company:
"Over 60% of the customers we surveyed allow access to social networks. But in the next year or two, it's going to to be in the 90s. [When businesses consider using Facebook more] this added data security layer is going to be crucial to allow broader access to their employees."
Unlike threats on email servers, or an individual's computer, where a user would need to download something to be attacked, spam threats on Facebook are shapeshifters. They can quickly spread from user to user via shares, and can exist stealthily for a very short time before disappearing. This makes larger corporations wary of using the service. They don't want to expose their Facebook followers, or employees who access Facebook from work, to any security problems.
One of Websense's recent clients, the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, contracted the security company specifically so that employees could continue to use social networks at work, while keeping their machines risk-free.
Renert explains: "The kinds of attacks we're talking about here are socially engineered--they might be videos, or a status update, or a link in a web-chat, that are designed to draw you in and type in a password. The degree of social engineering is higher [than with email]."
Find out how to safely integrate social media into your business with our free Social Media Acceptable Use Policy Toolkit here.
Watch a video where Websense CTO Dan Hubbard explains the Facebook partnership further here.
Read the press release announcing the partnership here.
English (US)