Facebook announced the acquisition of security focused firm PrivateCore with plans to deploy the startup's expertise in aiding its core mission.
Facebook, the world's largest social networking service, is stepping up its game to protect user data. Facebook's latest acquisition, server security firm PrivateCore, will be used to shut malware and prevent unauthorized access to its servers.
PrivateCore, based in Palo Alto, California, was founded by former Google and VMware executives two years ago and develops software that verifies and secures data stored on the servers, CNET reports.
Both companies confirmed the new move in separate posts but the financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Facebook's Chief Security Officer, Joe Sullivan, made the announcement of the acquisition on behalf of the social network while PrivateCore CEO Oded Horovitz confirmed the news in its own blog.
As a part of the deal, Horovitz along with co-founder Steve Weis and other team members will be moving to Facebook's Menlo Park, California headquarters. Detailing the future plans for PrivateCore, Horovitz wrote, "There is a huge opportunity to pursue our joint vision at scale with incredible impact. Over time, Facebook plans to deploy our technology into the Facebook stack to help protect the people who use Facebook. We know we will learn and grow as we continue developing our technology and making it stronger."
The social networking giant needs to protect users' data in order to sustain the number one spot in the competitive field.
Facebook has been big on acquisitions this year. It bought WhatsApp for $16 billion, Oculus for $2 billion and made other acquisitions like app data startup Pryte, health and fitness tracking app Moves, mobile analytics startup Onavo and others.