Facebook has partnered with Web of Trust (WOT) to warn its users about malware and spasm. WOT is a free tool that suggests users which website is to be relied. The benchmark used by them is ratings by their community members. In their blog post, Facebook said that they already have a system which determines if a website associated with a particular link, is malicious for users or not.
This partnership however, will beef up Facebook’s security setting even more as the additional bad links will be spotted. This will be possible as Facebook will be integrating their security system with the reputation rating of WOT. With this announcement, Facebook becomes the first social network to use WOT reputation rating. Earlier, the rating was used by search engines, browsers, ad platforms etc.
Regarding this alliance, Jake Brill, Facebook’s manager of site integrity said, “Facebook cares deeply about preserving user trust and providing users with the best tools to enjoya safe experience online. We are excited about our partnership with Web of Trust–they share similar goals and approaches in giving users better control of their online experience.”
The WOT community is believed to have their vigil eyes open all time. That’s why their recommendations are crucial. After the integration, when Facebook will scan a link, it will put the information supplied by WOT to use to judge the authenticity of the site.
In the blogpost, Facebook mentioned how harmful the links could be. The harmfulness of links posted by friends and acquaintances, and sometimes by anonymous people on a user’s wall has been given a name, “Clickjacking”. Facebook wrote, “It’s done by overlaying the link with something more enticing, like a phony offer.” They had taken some measures to prevent posting of such links and warn users about their malefic side. The collaboration with WOT however adds a new dimension to it.