Facebook expands protection program for high-risk accounts

Social media platform Facebook is��expanding��its enhanced security program, which protects high-risk accounts from malicious hackers,��to��more than 50 countries��by the end of the year.��

“Human rights defenders, activists, journalists, and elected government officials are at the center of public discourse,” said Nathaniel Gleicher, global head of cybersecurity policy��at��Meta, Facebook’s parent company,��in��a Dec. 2 briefing.��“As such, the consequence for society is high if their [Facebook] accounts are compromised.”������

Called Facebook Protect, the program is designed to enhance two-factor authentication (2FA), increase automated defenses in the backend, and flag accounts in the social media platform’s internal system. It was��. It went live in the Philippines on Oct. 27.��

Despite being one of the best available tools against account compromise, 2FA is historically underutilized, said Mr. Gleicher. Only 4% of Facebook’s monthly active users worldwide have adopted it as of November.������

“We are investing to make 2FA as easy to use as possible,” he said. “At the end of the day, reducing security friction for users will always be essential.”����

Accounts deemed high-risk by the platform will receive a prompt to enroll in Facebook Protect. 2FA is mandatory for��accounts that are most likely to be targeted by bad actors.����

As of this month, more than 1.5 million accounts have enabled Facebook Protect, with about 950,000 newly enrolled in 2FA as a result of this prompt.����

Those that do not get a prompt but are part of the aforementioned communities can . ��

Facebook Protect will be available in more than 50 countries��— including��the US, Portugal, Australia, India, and Thailand — by the end of 2021.�� —��Patricia B. Mirasol��