Facebook to acquire Internet security company PrivateCore

Facebook said on Thursday it will acquire 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 US$2.25 million (S$2.8 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, unauthorised 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 cybersecurity firm uncovered about 1.2 billion Internet logins and passwords amassed by a Russian crime ring.