Updated 14 Feb, 2012, 6:01 pm IST

McAfee Security to be Available to Facebook Users

13 Jan, 2010, 11:24 am IST | tech2 News Staff |

McAfee and Facebook have announced a collaboration that will provide additional security protection to all Facebook users.

Through this partnership, the two companies have jointly created security solutions that include McAfee security software, a custom scanning and repair tool, and consumer friendly education materials that Facebook will make available to its more than 350 million users.

Under the terms of the partnership, McAfee is Facebook’s exclusive provider of consumer security software, and Facebook users will be eligible for a complimentary six-month subscription of the McAfee Internet Security Suite software. Following the six-month period, Facebook users will be eligible for special discount subscription pricing. (Facebook is applying all financial incentives from this partnership to the benefit of its users and will not be taking a share of any revenue from user subscriptions.)

McAfee Internet Security Suite software protects users’ PCs from online threats, viruses, spyware, hackers, online scammers, identity thieves and other cybercriminals, and includes award-winning McAfee SiteAdvisor site rating technology.

In the event that a Facebook account is compromised, Facebook has developed an innovative process that requires users to take steps to re-secure their Facebook account and learn security best practices. As part of this partnership, this process will now also include custom McAfee technology to clean users’ computers. There is no charge for use of this tool.

To keep users educated about the latest threats, Facebook and McAfee will work together to develop educational content for the Facebook Security Page, Facebook’s principal resource for security-related information with more than one million fans. McAfee will also continuously update its own Facebook Page, which features the offer on the “Protect Your PC” tab as well as security information on “Protect Your Kids” and “Security Notes” tabs.

Research has shown that up to 78 percent of consumers do not have updated anti-virus, an enabled firewall and anti-spyware, and 48 percent of them have expired anti-virus, the most fundamental protection2. So many people without even the most basic protection for their computers are an obvious risk to themselves, but also to people with whom they interact online. The agreement between McAfee and Facebook is designed to address this problem.

Upon launch, McAfee Internet Security Suite software will be available to Facebook users in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, France, Canada, Mexico and Brazil. So we in India will have to wait just a bit longer as additional countries will be added throughout Q1.

Tags: McAfee , Facebook