Facebook has improved its Anitivirus (AV) Marketplace today by adding support for seven new languages; French, Italian, German, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, and Portuguese.
The social network has been offering antivirus software since April last year. It partnered initially with Microsoft, McAfee, TrendMicro, Sophos and Symantec, giving users access to the full version antivirus software for the first six months.
Last October, the marketplace was expanded to include seven new partners; AVG, avast!, Avira, Kaspersky, Panda, Total Defense and Webroot. At this point, Norton and McAfee began offering some of its own security solutions for mobile devices too.
The scheme is designed to help Facebook users who currently don’t have protection on their desktop PC, laptop or smartphone, and want to try some authoritative software before parting with their cash.
It seems like a wonderful gesture on Facebook’s part, although it’s worth noting that the social network’s URL blacklist system is also benefiting. The company consults the databases of all its AV marketplace partners to ensure that it’s safe for a user to click on a link posted to Facebook.
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“Last October we expanded our AV Marketplace to include new vendors in order to provide even more choice and protection to the over 1 billion people who use our service,” a Facebook spokesperson told TNW. “Today, we look forward to opening up the Marketplace to even more of our users.”
It’s unclear at the moment exactly how many of its partners will be updating its software to include all seven languages. The spokesperson clarified that “almost all the vendors” would be expanding in some way, but couldn’t give details for any specific antivirus companies.
Facebook is a social networking titan, so it’s encouraging to hear that it’s working with some of the most prolific antivirus software companies in the industry to ensure that where possible, user data is kept under lock and key.
The announcement follows the unveiling of Home, a collection of apps for Android devices which includes a new lock screen and home screen experience, as well as an integrated messaging service across Google’s mobile OS.
It’s launching for the Samsung Galaxy SIII, S4 and Note II, as well as the HTC One, One X and First – the last of which is an entirely new device built from the ground up to take advantage of Home.
Image Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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