Trend Micro Helps Facebook Users Fight Cyber Threats with 'HouseCall'

Social media giant integrates threat defense technology to combat malicious activities while maintaining user privacy

News provided by

May 20, 2014, 12:07 ET

DALLAS, May 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to provide Facebook users with a more secure online experience Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704) today announced it has expanded its partnership with Facebook to incorporate Trend Micro™ HouseCall™, a royalty-free security solution which will help detect malware and keep devices secure for Facebook's more than 1 billion users.

With trillions of clicks occurring every day on Facebook, the social platform is a tempting target for spammers and criminals. HouseCall will complement Facebook's existing systems to mitigate these threats by detecting and alerting users to malicious activity that could compromise user security and privacy.

"HouseCall will give Facebook users an additional safeguard against the malicious attacks that interacting online can bring," said Kevin Simzer, chief marketing officer, Trend Micro. "We are pleased to partner with one of the world's leading social media networks to provide a free solution that will help protect the online security and privacy of billions of users."

Potentially infected users are identified and notified by Facebook with the option to download the free version of HouseCall, which will check for and remove malware. HouseCall will begin its scan on affected accounts of users who choose to download the scanner, and users will be able to continue using Facebook while the scan takes place. Once the scan is complete, a message will alert users if the cleanup was successful or unsuccessful.

"The scanning process enables users to continue to work online in a more secure environment without unintentionally sharing malicious content or being infected from unsuspecting accounts," said Simzer. "HouseCall helps make social networking safer on Facebook."

Effective today, Facebook users' accounts and devices have the opportunity to utilize Trend Micro's free anti-virus tools to scan and clean their systems.

"We use a combination of systems to help protect people using Facebook from threats like malware. Incorporating the malware detection and cleanup capabilities of Trend Micro HouseCall into these systems will increase our ability to perform this important work," said Chetan Gowda, Software Engineer at Facebook.

To learn more about how Trend Micro protects against online threats and enables users to experience social media safely, please visit www.trendmicro.com.

About Trend Micro
Trend Micro Incorporated a global leader in security software, rated number one in server security (IDC, 2013), strives to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Built on 25 years of experience, our solutions for consumers, businesses and governments provide layered data security to protect information on mobile devices, endpoints, gateways, servers and the cloud. Trend Micro enables the smart protection of information, with innovative security technology that is simple to deploy and manage, and fits an evolving ecosystem. All of our solutions are powered by cloud-based global threat intelligence, the Trend Micro™ Smart Protection Network™ infrastructure, and are supported by more than 1,200 threat experts around the globe. For more information, visit TrendMicro.com.

SOURCE Trend Micro Incorporated