Facebook is riddled with links to malicious websites. Often times scams trick users into sharing content with their friends which helps links spread faster through the social network. To cut down on links that lead to malware and malicious sites Facebook has teamed up with Websense, a company that offers Web, email and data security.

Starting on Monday, you will see a new option when you click on a link that might not be from a trustworthy source. When you click on a link, it’s automatically checked against Websense’s database to determine whether or not it is malicious. If the page seems malicious, an option will pop up that says you can continue at your own risk, return to the previous screen or view more information on why the site was flagged as malicious.

Websense is a likely partnership for Facebook because it works in real time. With malicious content spreading as fast as it often does, Facebook needs security that is constantly working to eliminate threats.

Dan Rubinstein, Facebook Product Manager for Site Integrity, spoke on the new partnership. He said:

Facebook cares deeply about protecting users from potentially malicious content on the internet. We are excited about our partnership with Websense to provide industry leading tools to help our users protect themselves.

Partnering with Websense is one of the many measures Facebook has taken to improve security recently. In July the social network launched a bug bounty program that offers users money in exchange for reporting security flaws in their system. The social network also partnered with Web of Trust which tells users which sites they can trust based on ratings posted by other users.