Facebook to Buy Cyber-Security Startup PrivateCore to Protect User Data

Facebook said on Thursday it was acquiring a company that helps protect the computers and data centres that power Internet services.

Facebook did not disclose financial terms for the acquisition of PrivateCore, which was founded in 2011 and is based in Palo Alto, California. PrivateCore raised $2.25 million in funding in 2012 from Foundation Capital.

Facebook, the world's largest Internet social network with 1.32 billion monthly users, said that PrivateCore's technology can "validate and secure" server data and can protect computer servers from "persistent malware, unauthorized physical access, and malicious hardware devices."

"I've seen how much people care about the security of data they entrust to services like Facebook," Facebook Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan wrote in a post on Facebook announcing the deal.

The deal comes amid a growing number of high-profile data breaches. Earlier this week, The New York Times reported that a cyber-security firm uncovered about 1.2 billion Internet logins and passwords amassed by a Russian crime ring.

Last month, Facebook said it has extended by a year the closing of its landmark $ 19 billion deal to acquire instant messaging app WhatsApp.

The California-based firm will have to pay WhatsApp $ 1 billion in cash and $ 1 billion in stock options in case it fails to close the deal in the stipulated time.

Facebook said the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the second half of 2014.

"This date may be extended by us to August 19, 2015, if as of August 19, 2014 certain closing conditions applicable to Facebook (other than the receipt of certain regulatory approvals) have been satisfied," Facebook said in a US SEC filing last week.

Written with agency inputs