Facebook CSO says Snowden disclosures brought security to forefront

Facebook was already implementing stronger security controls when the U.S. National Security Agency's expansive surveillance program was revealed in June, its chief security officer said Thursday.

The social networking site has continued upgrading its security infrastructure, said Joe Sullivan[cq], who spoke to IDG News Service by phone from the Hack in the Box security conference in Kuala Lumpur.

Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden's disclosures "maybe made it a little bit easier to have that conversation publicly and show the effort that has been going on behind the scenes all along," Sullivan said. On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that the NSA was collecting email and instant messaging address books as the lists are transmitted on the Internet from services including Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft and Google.