Facebook May Be Acquiring a Major Cybersecurity Company Soon

• A news report has revealed that Facebook is taking measures to improve its security.
• The company may be acquiring a security firm by the end of the year.
• The decision by the company came shortly after a string of security controversies that garnered worldwide attention.

After being dragged into a number of data protection controversies, social media giant Facebook is trying to make amends. According to a report by The Information, the company is trying to acquire a major security firm to bolster its cybersecurity front. The sources behind the report have not revealed the names of the firms, but it is expected that a deal might be in place before the end of the year.

A team of corporate staffers has been recruited to identify security firms that could potentially be acquired to add their expertise to Facebook. Facebook’s trust with controversies this year began with the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and it continued with reports revealing Russian state-led influence in the previous US elections. The most recent scandal involves 30 million users having their account tokens stolen by cybercriminals.

The upcoming acquisition will not be Facebook’s first. The social media company has made a number of acquisitions over the years with its 2014 purchase of PrivateCore for server-side technology. It is unknown how much the acquisition was worth. However, Facebook’s upcoming acquisition might cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

The social media company’s security practices have been highly controversial and adding the expertise of a professional security company can help Facebook prevent future security breaches. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has already committed to improving the security at the company with the safety and security personnel being ramped up from 10,000 to 20,000.

According to the report, security executives and investors are skeptical about Facebook’s security even if a major acquisition takes place. With the social media company known to collect personal data and allowing third-party companies access to the data for advertising purposes, there is always a risk of a compromise.

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