Meta to expand Facebook Protect program to India by 2021-end

Meta said that it is expanding its Facebook Protect security program for journalists and government officials as they are highly likely to be targeted in cyberattacks. This program was first tested in the US in 2018 and expanded during the 2020 Presidential Elections.

Meta's Facebook Protect security program is being rolled out to 50 countries including India, the US, and Portugal by 2021-end. "As a part of our ongoing improvements to security, we're expanding Facebook Protect, a program designed for people that are likely to be highly targeted by malicious hackers, including human rights defenders, journalists and government officials. No action is required unless you're prompted to enroll," Meta Head of Security Policy Nathaniel Gleicher was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.

Users will soon start seeing a notification from Facebook asking them to turn on the ‘Facebook Protect’ option designed to protect accounts against cyberattacks. The user will have to turn on the two-factor authentication (2FA) for their accounts and Facebook is also making it easier for these accounts to set up 2FA.

“These people are at the centre of critical communities for public debate. They enable democratic elections, hold governments and organisations accountable, and defend human rights around the world. Unfortunately, this also means that they are highly targeted by bad actors,” Gleicher added.

Global expansion of this program began in September this year and ~1.5 million accounts have enabled Facebook Protect till date. Of those, nearly 950,000 accounts were newly enrolled in 2FA.

(With agency inputs)

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