Symantec Extends Award-Winning Virus Protection to Solaris; Norton AntiVirus for Solaris Gateways Safeguards Corporate Networks

Business Wire, Feb 9, 2000

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 9, 2000

Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq:SYMC) today announced its first anti-virus product to support the Solaris platform -- Norton AntiVirus for Solaris Gateways.

As an essential component of Symantec's content security strategy, Norton AntiVirus for Solaris Gateways extends the award-winning virus protection to companies operating multiple platforms within their enterprise. Symantec offers critical gateway protection to multiple platforms ranging from Sun Microsystems Solaris to Microsoft Windows NT.

&uot;Norton AntiVirus for Solaris Gateways is the best protection possible against invasive, fast-spreading e-mail borne viruses that can result in significant monetary and productivity losses if left unchecked,&uot; said Elizabeth Magliana, vice president of product management, enterprise solutions division. &uot;Our goal is to provide corporations with unsurpassed protection on multiple platforms from new and unknown threats while reducing the cost of maintaining and supporting PCs and servers in a connected world.&uot;

To facilitate its integration with existing communications infrastructures, Norton AntiVirus for Solaris Gateways is compatible with leading e-mail server software such as Sendmail Pro, an Internet mail platform on many Solaris systems for e-communication, applications, and services. &uot;After coordinated testing efforts to ensure the interoperability of Norton AntiVirus with our Sendmail Pro software, we are convinced that Norton AntiVirus for Solaris Gateways will provide our valued customers the virus protection they need in today's e-business world,&uot; said Jon Haass, vice president of business development at Sendmail.

Unsurpassed Virus Resolution Time

Because viruses transmitted via e-mail are notoriously fast spreading, it is essential that corporations use an anti-virus solution that includes mechanisms to ensure the quick turnaround of a cure. Norton AntiVirus provides unequalled virus resolution timeframes through its effective yet intuitive multi-layered technology components: Scan and Deliver, Quarantine Server, and Quarantine Console.

Scan and Deliver is an automated macro virus analysis and repair system that enables virus cures to be created and delivered faster than the malicious code can spread. Currently, 92 percent of the virus cures are delivered to customers within 24 hours, many of which are delivered within two to eight hours. Quarantine Server isolates irreparable, virus-infected files, thereby preventing further infection. The Quarantine Console makes it easier for administrators to respond to virus situations quickly and efficiently by providing remote management capabilities.

The Norton AntiVirus NAVEX technology provides administrators a way to implement fixes for new virus types throughout their enterprise quickly and cost-effectively. NAVEX is Symantec's unique, extensible engine that reprograms Norton AntiVirus to detect new classes of viruses without requiring inlines or major updates. Symantec's schedulable LiveUpdate capability adds further security by providing automatic virus updates at specified intervals -- without human intervention.

By using a multi-threaded scanning system, Norton AntiVirus also processes even more requests and scans simultaneously, thereby boosting system performance and providing unsurpassed virus detection rates. The Norton AntiVirus scan engine continues to detect and repair more viruses in independent tests than any other comparable product on the market.

Norton AntiVirus also scans and repairs the files contained within common compressed file formats, which is often targeted by virus writers as another place to conceal new viruses. Additionally, Norton AntiVirus makes it easy for users to access important virus information by including HTML links to Symantec's Virus encyclopedia at the SARC Web site (www.sarc.com).

Availability

Norton AntiVirus for Solaris Gateways is available through Symantec's worldwide network of VARS, integrators and resellers. For more information, visit www.symantec.com.

Other Symantec products for the Solaris platform include I-Gear, the industry-leading policy-based Internet access control software; and Mail-Gear, the most comprehensive, policy-based email filtering software.

About Sendmail, Inc.

Based in Emeryville, Calif., privately-held Sendmail, Inc. delivers the ubiquitous Sendmail Internet Mail platform for e-communications, applications, and services. Sendmail, Inc. collaborates with its commercial customers, partners and the Open Source community to advance the Internet Mail platform powering the majority of mail servers on the Internet today. After twelve months of shipping commercial products and services, Sendmail, Inc., has more than 1,800 customers.

About Symantec

Symantec, a world leader in Internet security technology, provides content security solutions to enterprise organizations and helps companies manage and support workforces that use computers.