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Facebook adds WebSense safe browsing to its defenses

To help protect users from unsafe links, the social-networking site will use a Websense Web link blacklist service.

Elinor Mills Former Staff Writer
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service and the Associated Press.
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Elinor Mills
 
This is the warning that will pop up if WebSense determines that a Web link on Facebook is unsafe.
This is the warning that will pop up if WebSense determines that a Web link is unsafe on Facebook. Websense

Facebook is adding a Websense Web link blacklist service to its arsenal of defenses designed to protect users from clicking on links that lead to sites hosting malware.

The social-networking site will be using Websense ThreatSeeker Cloud service, which warns people when they click on a link on Facebook that could be malicious, the companies announced today. Facebook will start rolling out the service today.

The partnership follows one that Facebook announced in May with the free Web of Trust safe surfing service. Facebook also has its own blacklist. The larger the pool of blacklists the better the chances users will be protected from malware, basically.

When users click on a link, the online blacklist databases are checked to see if the link is flagged. If the link is deemed unsafe, users will see a warning and be given the option of ignoring the alert, returning to the previous page, or getting more information.