Facebook Users Can Get McAfee Virus Protection

Facebook and McAfee have partnered to offer Facebook users six months of free malware protection. McAfee will also scan Facebook messages for hidden malware. The Facebook announcement comes just days after CEO Mark Zuckerberg caused a ruckus on privacy. McAfee will also help develop content for Facebook's lightly used security page.

Responding to the growing threat of malware, Facebook on Wednesday announced a partnership withsecurity giant McAfee that will encourage users to sign up for virus protection. The social network , which says it has 350 million users, has also developed a system with McAfee to scan Facebook messages for hidden malware.

If a threat is detected from a user, Facebook will be able to lock out that user's account until a free scan and clean program is run.

Good Timing?

The announcement comes just days after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg caused a ruckus in the tech and online world by saying that the "social norm" had evolved to the point where people were less concerned about privacy and more inclined to share details of their lives on the Internet.

One expert said the timing, likely coincidental, might help change the conversation.

"Certainly, this would have been in the works for quite some time," said Michael Zimmer, an assistant professor in the school of information studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an associate at the Center for Information Policy Research. "But I wouldn't be surprised if someone at Facebook decided to accelerate the announcement to show that they're taking user security seriously."

Facebook said the deal is an expansion of measures it began taking in July to detect compromised user accounts. The agreement will allow Facebook users a free subscription to McAfee Internet Security Suite software for six months, followed by a discount one-year subscription. The software protects against "viruses, spyware, hackers, online scammers, identity thieves, and other cybercriminals," McAfee says.

Another security software company, BitDefender, announced on Dec. 30 that spyware and malware activity rose drastically at the end of 2009. The company pointed to Trojan.Clicker.CM, which can force advertisements inside users' browsers when visiting nonsecure web sites, as the leading threat. Others include Win32.Worm.Downadup.Gen, Exploit.PDF-JS.Gen and Worm.Autorun.VHG.

The most common malware on Facebook has been Koobface, first detected in 2008.

BitDefender said the most common countries of origin for malware were China, France and the United States, followed by Australia, Romania and Spain.

The Best Defense Is an Offense

The McAfee subscription is available by selecting Protect Your PC on McAfee's Facebook page. Facebook said it will not receive any revenue from the deal

By Adam Dickter

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