Facebook Partners With ESET to Fight Malware

Facebook has continued its push for greater security on the platform by adding a third security company to its roster and increasing the availability of malware tools and advice.

The social network already has agreements with F-Secure and Trend Micro to offer embedded software and antivirus protection, and has now added support from ESET, which will offer a free antivirus scan.

Facebook says that increasing the number of security companies that it works with boosts the protection that its users receive.

“A larger number of providers increases the chances that malware will get caught and cleaned up, which will help people on Facebook keep their information more secure,” Facebook said in a post on the company’s engineering blog.

“Together, these three systems will help us block malicious links and harmful sites from populating the news feeds and messages of the 1.35 billion people who use Facebook.”

The ESET tool will allow Facebook users to scan for any problems with their computer or mobile device. Support from Facebook means that this scanning, and any associated remedies, can take place without having to leave the social network.

ESET says that Facebook is using the Online Scanner to proactively scan user accounts and flag incidents of suspicious activity that may have been missed.

Users will be prompted to run the scan upon logging onto Facebook, and can have any threats “safely removed.”

The system is currently live, and access to the software is provided through Facebook. Results are delivered via Facebook notifications.

This article was originally published on V3.