The Internet is more than just a source of all the answers to us. It's more of a second life that takes its course over time, depending on how we build up our online aura. But with everything coming out in the open on the web, the chances of several Internet-based crimes increase accordingly.
With more and more accounts and profiles on the web becoming susceptible to hackers every day, one might ponder if there's any way out of this. While long term answers are still being worked upon, Facebook has introduced a brand new social network for cyber security professionals for a more immediate impact.
Facebook's newest social network for cyber security professionals has been brought to life for these experts to share information about threats that could lead to cyber attacks. The new service from Facebook also comes in at a time when the US government and companies are searching for new ways to counter online threats.
As reports have suggested, the world's largest social network is now cranking up its effort in cyber security by teaming up with such other technology companies including Yahoo and online scrapbooking site Pinterest for better augmentation of the service. The service is currently called ThreatExchange.
With the platform online, it will flawlessly enable companies to share clues about how hackers are working in the hope of preventing security breaches that have left many a service and its users paralysed at the hands of different online threats. Just look at the hacks recently suffered by PSN and Xbox Live, for example.
Mark Hammel, Facebook's manager of threat infrastructure, says that ThreatExchange had been developed from an existing system that Facebook was already using internally. This made it easier for the company to catalogue threats to the site in real time.
Hammel was also of the opinion that, if given a chance, Facebook would give the cyber security service away for free, unlike some other threat detection systems in the business. The new changes, however, do come at a time when Facebook is trying to widen its appeal outside social interactions between just friends and family.
"We feel that as our product's footprint has grown, with the number of people using it to communicate, we have the ability to spend more time on broader security issues that affect the internet," he said. He also added that Facebook is "really well positioned" with its "social sharing model" to direct a threat project like this.
He further added that Yahoo and Pinterest have been good initial partners because they have also faced similar threats and that both command sizeable user bases. "Together, we're protecting a pretty sizeable percentage of the internet," he said.
The ThreatExchange comes just after Barack Obama, US president, put information sharing at the core of his cyber security proposal that was announced ahead of the State of the Union speech last month. He projected legislation that would make it easier for companies to share information about cyber threats with the government.
The ThreatExchange platform from Facebook is currently in its initial days, and it still needs to tread more roads if it is to become a successful name in whatever it's planning to offer. But with security issues happening online every day, we see it as a good way forward, with other such big names on-board.
