Facebook now protects users from malicious links

Facebook and Websense announced a technology integration partnership that helps to protect Facebook users from links that lead to malware and malicious sites.

Starting today, Websense technology will add to Facebook’s existing protections to stop users from clicking on links without knowing the trustworthiness of the destination. When a Facebook user clicks on a link it will be checked against the Websense database.

If Websense determines the link is malicious, the user will see a page that offers the choice to continue at their own risk, return to the previous screen, or get more information on why it was flagged as suspicious.

“Facebook cares deeply about protecting users from potentially malicious content on the internet,” said Dan Rubinstein, Facebook product manager for Site Integrity. “We are excited about our partnership with Websense to provide industry leading tools to help our users protect themselves.”

This new Facebook security service is powered by the Websense ThreatSeeker Cloud, a classification and malware identification platform. Within the ThreatSeeker Cloud, the web content is analyzed in real-time by Websense’s proprietary technology, which prevents data loss and malware exposure by identifying complex online threats and content.

“Websense has been analyzing and classifying the internet for more than 15 years, and now all Facebook users will be protected by the same core technology that is used in the market-leading Websense TRITONâ„? enterprise security solutions,” said Dan Hubbard, Websense CTO.

“Every day, Websense Security Labs works to discover, investigate, and report on advanced internet threats that are designed to circumvent antivirus products. By providing real-time protection from malware, spyware, inappropriate content, data leaks, and spam, we make it safe for people and businesses to use the web,” he added.