WASHINGTON,  Jan. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), a nonprofit public-private partnership focused on cybersecurity awareness and education for all digital citizens, today announced that Joe Sullivan, Facebook's chief security officer, has joined its board of directors.

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"The Facebook team is constantly innovating to cultivate a safe online environment and address new and emerging security threats. At a time when the Internet faces many complex security challenges, Facebook has shown an unwavering commitment to make the Internet safer and more secure for all," said Michael Kaiser, executive director of NCSA. "What's more, Joe brings incredible experience and a passion for engaging educators, parents, students and the greater online community on safer Internet practices. NCSA stands to greatly benefit from his wisdom and experience."

As chief security officer, Sullivan oversees security for Facebook's more than 500 million active users and works to develop and promote high standards for product security. As a former federal prosecutor and founding member of the Justice Department's Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Units, Sullivan and his Facebook team partner closely with law enforcement to foster a safe online environment.

"Protecting our trusted environment and helping people stay safe and secure online is a top priority for Facebook," Sullivan said.  "We do this by developing robust tools and technologies and by actively engaging with the community through organizations like NCSA. We look forward to working with the rest of the industry to educate and raise awareness around online safety and security."

NCSA and Facebook began collaborating in 2009 on STOP. THINK. CONNECT., the first unified online safety message and public awareness campaign adopted across industry, government and nonprofits. For National Cyber Security Awareness Month last October, Facebook donated 35 million global ad impressions to spread the word about STOP. THINK. CONNECT. In addition, Facebook users can test their knowledge of online security by taking the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. Quiz developed by the Facebook security team. The quiz leverages the social connections on Facebook by allowing those who take it to post a story to their profile as well as to their friends' News Feeds, further spreading the message. To date, the quiz has been taken more than 650,000 times.

About The National Cyber Security Alliance

The National Cyber Security Alliance is a non-profit organization. Through collaboration with the government, corporate, non-profit and academic sectors, the mission of the NCSA is to empower a digital citizenry to use the Internet securely and safely protecting themselves and the technology they use and the digital assets we all share. NCSA works to create a culture of cyber security and safety through education and awareness activities. NCSA board members include: ADP, AT&T, EMC Corporation, Cisco Systems, General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Google, Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Services, McAfee, Microsoft, PayPal, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Symantec, Verizon and Visa. Visit www.staysafeonline.org for more information.

About Facebook

Founded in February 2004, Facebook's mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. Anyone can sign up for Facebook and interact with the people they know in a trusted environment. Facebook is a privately held company and is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif.

About STOP. THINK. CONNECT.

STOP. THINK. CONNECT.™ is the first-ever coordinated message to help all digital citizens stay safer and more secure online. The message was created by an unprecedented coalition of private companies, non-profits and government organizations. The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) and National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) led the effort to find a unified online safety message that could be adopted across public and private sectors. The campaign hopes to achieve for online safety awareness what "Smokey Bear" did for forest fire safety and "Click It or Ticket" did for seatbelt safety, more information can be found at www.stopthinkconnect.org.

SOURCE National Cyber Security Alliance

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http://www.staysafeonline.org/