Love them or hate them, the new changes to Facebook will probably bring another wave of users to the immensely popular social network. And with those new users will probably come new threats and viruses and other malicious attacks from those who target the unwary. To combat those threats, Facebook announced today that it has partnered with online security firm Websense to help keep Facebook users safe from unsavory links.
Beginning immediately, every time you click on a link in Facebook, the new system will check the link against Websense's known threat database. If the link is determined to be safe, you won't notice a thing, but if it's not, you'll see a message warning you about a potential threat, explaining why the link was flagged as such, and suggesting you return to the previous page. You will also have the option of ignoring the warning and continuing on to the link's destination.
This is the latest round in Facebook's fight against viruses and malware being spread via its website, but it's not the only protection in place. Facebook also has its own proprietary database of malicious URLs and other threats, and it has also been partnered with Web of Trust since May. Websense also offers a Facebook app called Defensio, which can be configured to limit the types of links that can be posted to a user's wall.
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