RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Meta announced the arrival in Brazil, on Thursday (2), of Facebook Protect, a security program for people at risk of being targeted by digital criminals.
The goal is to protect activists, politicians, human rights defenders, journalists, and public servants, i.e., figures who deal with sensitive data and can be the target of attempts to steal credentials and improper access to profiles.
According to the company, no action is required, as Facebook will request additional registration from people who fit the program’s requirements. These users will have a more straightforward way to activate two-factor authentication, which adds an extra layer of protection to threatened profiles.
The program was created in 2018 in the U.S. and has expanded worldwide to prevent attacks against potential targets, especially near election periods, such as that in Brazil scheduled for October 2022. By the end of this year, Facebook should expand the product to Brazil and more than 50 other countries.
“With Facebook Protect, we’re working to make it as simple as possible for these groups of people to activate and use two-factor authentication while providing a better user experience and support. We are also starting to require them to use this functionality,” details Meta’s Security Policy Lead Nathaniel Gleicher.
MORE SECURE ACCOUNTS ON FACEBOOK
Data from Facebook shows that more than a million people have already received warning messages on the network to sign up for Facebook Protect and thus managed to keep their accounts more secure. Two-factor authentication is not a feature exclusive to subscribers: anyone can set this up to receive SMS codes or enter Google Authenticator numbers.
More than 90 percent of the people who received the notification agreed to implement the additional measures to protect their accounts. This is a crucial percentage in this day and age, where people have their access compromised much more easily, thanks to advanced phishing techniques, unnatural links, or account theft.