Symantec Granted Patent on Heuristic Technology to Detect New and Unknown Viruses

Technology Included in All Symantec Antivirus Products, Providing Users Proactive Protection Against Emerging Threats

CUPERTINO, Calif. - March 20, 2002 - Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC), the world leader in Internet security, today announced it has been granted a patent on antivirus heuristic technology by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Symantec's patented heuristic technology - United States patent number 6,357,008 - detects new and unknown viruses without traditional virus fingerprints. This technology, included in all Symantec's gateway, server and desktop antivirus solutions, can be applied to protect virtually any platform against present and future virus threats.

"The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is recognizing Symantec for its cutting-edge technology that can detect and block a high percentage of entirely new virus strains before they have a chance to spread," said Rob Clyde, vice president and chief technical officer at Symantec. "Symantec remains dedicated to combating even the most complex malicious code attacks such as blended threats, by incorporating the most innovative technologies into its comprehensive line of Internet security solutions."

Traditional antivirus software detects viruses by searching for previously identified fingerprints in files and on disks. In contrast, Symantec's patented heuristic technology identifies new threats by directly examining files for suspicious behavior, without the need for fingerprints. This new system provides a powerful complement to traditional fingerprint-based antivirus software by providing protection against new malicious threats before definitions are available.

Symantec Security Response is a driving force in the development of Symantec's wide range of innovative technologies. Symantec Security Response is a team of Internet security experts who work 24x7 to deliver solutions, services, and response capabilities to Symantec customers worldwide. From research centers across the globe, Symantec Security Response professionals collect and analyze the latest malware threats as well as network security threats and vulnerabilities. Complementing these research teams are technical support experts who provide customers with information on product implementation and usage as well as countermeasures and identification tools for new threats.

Symantec Enterprise Security provides any size organization with the technology, global response and services necessary to manage its information security. Symantec's comprehensive solution offers best-of-breed products to protect gateways, servers, and clients with firewall security, virus protection, intrusion detection, vulnerability management and virtual private networking (VPN). Symantec Security Response provides customers with comprehensive, global, 24X7 Internet security expertise to guard against today's blended Internet threats. Symantec Enterprise Security customers are also supported by one of the largest professional security organizations in the world, offering security consulting, security education and managed security services. For more information, please visit Symantec's enterprise Web site at http://enterprisesecurity.symantec.com/.

About Symantec
Symantec, the world leader in Internet security technology, provides a broad range of content and network security software and appliance solutions to individuals, enterprises and service providers. The company is a leading provider of client, gateway and server security solutions for virus protection, firewall and virtual private network, vulnerability management, intrusion detection, Internet content and e-mail filtering, remote management technologies and security services to enterprises and service providers around the world. Symantec's Norton brand of consumer security products is a leader in worldwide retail sales and industry awards. Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Symantec has worldwide operations in 38 countries. For more information, please visit www.symantec.com.

Symantec's Canadian operations are headquartered in Toronto with offices in Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver. For more information on Symantec products or current promotions, contact the Canadian office at (416) 441-3676 or access Symantec's Canadian Web site at www.symantec.ca. Symantec is an active member of the Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft (CAAST).

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