Facebook’s Q2 numbers are in, and the big takeaway from the earnings call was pretty simple: mobile advertising beat everyones expectations by quite a bit. Facebook’s mobile efforts overall are up too.  I’m sure Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is thinking in his head, “see, we told you we could do it!”

And while that’s true,  it also means Facebook is openly admitting that it missed the early boat on mobile, now moving at warp-speed to make up for lost time.  Mobile MAUs (monthly active users) were 819 million as of June 30, 2013, an increase of a whopping 51 percent year-over-year. Mobile DAUs (daily active users) were 469 million on average for June 2013.

Some key numbers from Facebook’s Q2 earnings report:

• Daily active users (DAUs) were 699 million on average for June 2013, an increase of 27% year-over-year.
• Monthly active users (MAUs) were 1.15 billion as of June 30, 2013, an increase of 21% year-over-year.
• Introduced video for Instagram and saw 5 million videos uploaded in the first 24 hours.
• Revenue for the second quarter of 2013 totaled $1.81 billion, an increase of 53%, compared with $1.18 billion in the second quarter of 2012.

Mobile is not only working, but advertising from mobile is working as well. Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 41 percent of advertising revenue’s $1.60 billion for the second quarter of 2013.

Fresh opportunity for Facebook’s mobile business?

But is there an even bigger opportunity “because of” mobile for Facebook?  The social network has sparked revolutions in its own right, but mobile is an entirely different ball game.  To gain investor support and better leverage this most certain mobile track for Facebook, Zuckerberg and his team could use this as an opportunity to differentiate its mobile offerings in an increasingly crowded market.  Facebook could even position itself as a leader in one regard – mobile security.

Mobile-Security-As-A-Service (MSaaS). #coinedit.

A very realistic path towards differentiation in this NSA+PRISM world is Facebook’s ability to build a business model around our private data. Show us you can protect those walls you’ve built, Facebook, and it might turn into your biggest business yet.

Facebook: Mobile Security as a Service (MSaaS). Wouldn’t that be something?

The company that, after years of backlash for whatever advertising scheme it tried (remember Beacon?), and years of trying to perfect its privacy settings — could become the first-in the market of mobile data security from a social company. If Facebook owns Facebook and Instagram, that is a considerably large chunk of my mobile presence and activity. Oh and here’s a noteworthy postscript: Facebook is storing that everywhere.

How secure is my data within the “Facebook wall”? If Facebook’s finally serious about mobile, taking on some of the responsibility for mobile security could be such a HUGE opportunity for Facebook as it looks to grow confidence from shareholders.

3 Ways Facebook Can Leverage This Opportunity for MSaaS (Mobile Security as a Service)

• Facebook Home and private data leaks

Facebook Home has been on Android since April, and the rumors about iPhone still linger. While its deal with HTC was largely seen as a flop, don’t think this is was a total knockout for Facebook Home. If Facebook can wrap a secure data wall around users’ data, MSaaS could negate the issue for Facebook Home as a stand-alone service all together.

• Mobile device management

MDM (Mobile Device Management) is a growing point of interest with the enterprise. As BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)trends to be more the usual than the exception, the malware and data protection on those devices becomes of line-item concern. On work-related devices, less secure apps might be blocked, as well as the websites. Facebook taking a proactive approach to MSaaS could protect its place on the mobile device home screen.

• Mobile wallet + payments

The race for consumers’ pocketbooks. Facebook and every other major web company is trying to get access to your credit cards and have them “on file”. According to an eMarketer report, proximity mobile payments will top $1 billion in the US this year before expanding rapidly to reach an estimated $58 billion by 2017. If Facebook is going to become a player in that race, MSaaS would be a promising way to address consumer concerns.