Facebook is giving some users a major security upgrade

Facebook is set to improve security protection for a number of users over the next few months.

The social media giant has revealed it will offer its Facebook Protect service to more users in 2021. Previously, the tool had only been available for political officials with a blue-badge verified Facebook page involved in the 2020 US election, including the likes of President-Elect Joe Biden.

Facebook says that it will also look to boost security for other notable figures by encouraging the use of physical security keys and two-factor authentication systems.

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Facebook security

The news comes from an Axios report that spoke to Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s head of security policy, about the company's plans to improve its security practices in 2021.

Gleicher says that Facebook Protect will be rolled out to a wider number of journalists, human rights advocates and activists. The service will also be able to carry out real-time analysis on political accounts related to overseas elections in order to monitor for any hack attempts.

When it comes to two-factor security, Gleicher says more than 70 percent of people involved with the US 2020 election had the system activated, and that the company is still working on helping protect notable accounts.

"Bad actors are trying to target social media assets of prominent voices. Just because you're not a CEO or a political candidate doesn't mean you're not a prominent person in your field and a target," he told Axios.

Gleicher added that the physical security keys will be available for all Facebook users to buy, but will be handed out to possibly at-risk accounts first. Users can register the keys to their own accounts, hopefully boosting their own security.

Facebook will also look to expand its public reporting of security threats in the future, with such public disclosures often actually help to deter future attacks, Gleicher noted.