*By Carlo Versano* As Facebook tries to shore up its platform against hackers and show its 2 billion monthly users that it takes their concerns about privacy seriously, the company is actively seeking to acquire a major cybersecurity firm, according to a [report](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/facebook-on-hunt-for-big-cybersecurity-acquisition) in The Information. One of the authors of that story, Sarah Kuranda, told Cheddar Monday that the acquisition could happen by the end of 2018. Facebook's ($FB) leaders are cognizant of the "climate" a year of bad headlines has created ー from the Cambridge Analytica data-harvesting scandal to the most recent breach of 30 million accounts ー both in Washington and among users. "If you look at the last year for Facebook, security and privacy have been a big problem for the company," Kuranda said. An acquisition of a firm that specializes in hacking protections would be a twofold strategy for the social media giant, according to Kuranda: it would add technical capabilities to Facebook's back-end infrastructure and "makes a statement that they're stepping up their efforts in cyber security." But it would still not be a panacea for a company that now handles personal data for almost a quarter of the world's population. "The challenge with cybersecurity is more investment does not necessarily correlate to better outcomes," Kuranda said. And all the investment and resources may be all for naught if there's a single breach. Hackers are "getting smarter every day," Kuranda said ー and Facebook represents one of the most appealing targets, given its size. Users are increasingly reassessing their relationship with the platform because of these concerns. More than half of active Facebook users [said](http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/05/americans-are-changing-their-relationship-with-facebook/) they adjusted their privacy settings in the last year, and a poll from earlier this year [showed](https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/trust-facebook-has-dropped-51-percent-cambridge-analytica-scandal-n867011) that trust in the company dropped a staggering 66 percent in just a few months. "People are definitely paying attention," Kuranda said. For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/facebook-on-the-acquisition-hunt-for-cybersecurity-firm).
