Facebook has added seven new anti-virus partners to its Antivirus Marketplace to make its services more secure.
The social networking major has added Avast, AVG, Avira, Kaspersky, Panda, Total Defense, and Webroot to its Antivirus Marketplace, where the users can download anti-malware software.
Company’s new security services allow users to close down malicious pages, accounts and applications.
Facebook’s Antivirus Marketplace was launched in April and features software from McAfee, Norton, Sophos, Trend Micro and Microsoft.
Featured software on the Antivirus Marketplace can be used for free for six months to a year, depending on the software downloaded.
Facebook said in a blog post: "By adding these new partners to the Facebook Security family we are sure we can keep our community even better protected from threats both on Facebook and elsewhere on the Web."
Under the partnership with Kaspersky Lab, the anti-virus firm will supply Facebook with up-to-the-minute data about the malicious software threats worldwide, which will be used to protect users from accidentally visiting malicious web pages.
Facebook chief security officer Joe Sullivan said people who use Facebook will be able to benefit from Kaspersky’s intelligence and technology with their malicious URL data and inclusion in the AV Marketplace.
"We look forward to the combined work of our companies to help keep people safe both on and off of Facebook," Sullivan said.
Kaspersky Lab Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) director Costin Raiu said: "It takes a blend of online awareness and top-notch security technology to be protected online – one cannot take the place of the other – and by partnering with Facebook, Kaspersky Lab intends to provide both."
The partner firms have also been added to Facebook’s URL blacklist system, which tracks malicious links.
