Symantec Launches Norton 2010 Products, Introducing New Detection Technologies in the Fight against Cyber Crime

Third party testing proves Norton 2010 remains fastest security suite in the world1

CUPERTINO, CA – Today’s online thieves will take advantage of any opportunity to steal anything you’ve got: your money, your identity, even your good name. And their methods are getting more devious and sophisticated every day. In fact, Symantec blocked an average of more than 245 million attempted malicious code attacks across the globe each month during 20082. Phony emails, fake web sites and online ads trick innocent victims into divulging personal data like social security and credit card numbers. Cyber criminals then sell the information to the highest bidder on the online black market. Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC) knows that cyber crime is real crime, that’s why today, the maker of Norton security software, is bringing to market a completely unique approach to online security with Norton 2010.

New Reputation-Based Technology – Codenamed: Quorum

Norton Internet Security 2010 and Norton AntiVirus 2010 leverage a new model of security, codenamed Quorum, to attain unmatched detection of new malware and advance far beyond traditional signature and behavior-based detection. Specifically, Quorum takes the greatest weapon cyber criminals have in their arsenal – their ability to generate unique pieces of malware at an alarming rate – and turns that very weapon against them.

Today, cyber criminals are furiously writing and then rewriting new and unique pieces of malware, hoping to stay under the radar of threat signatures for as long as possible. With Quorum, the very uniqueness of a file and its attributes is what helps us identify it as new malware. More than three years in the making, Quorum tracks files and applications and dozens of their attributes such as their age, download source, digital signature, and prevalence. These attributes are then combined using complex algorithms to determine a reputation. As a file is distributed across the Internet and these attributes change, Quorum updates the reputation of the file. This reputation is especially important when a file is new, likely to be a threat, and traditional defenses are not likely to detect it.

Independent 3rd party test lab, AV-Test.org declared the Norton 2010 beta produced “an excellent result”3 in their recent testing of traditional detection methods such as heuristics and signatures as well as dynamic detection against tougher zero-day threats, which typically escape detection by traditional methods.

Quotes
“One in five people will become a victim of cyber crime,” said Rowan Trollope, senior vice president, Consumer Products and Marketing, Symantec. “We know that hackers don’t destroy computers, they destroy lives. The powerful new reputation-based security in Norton 2010 gives people the power to deny digital dangers wherever they are found online.”

“The expanding number and sophistication of security threats can no longer be contained through signature files and behavioral heuristics alone,” said Jon Oltsik, senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group. “Symantec’s reputation-based security technology for 2010 represents a new and important safeguard in a multi-layer antivirus defense. I believe it’s likely that the internet security industry will be building on technologies like Quorum for the next ten years.”

Fastest, Lightest
Following on the success of the Norton 2009 release, Symantec has made an ongoing commitment to delivering security products that are fast and light. The Norton 2010 products have maintained an eye on performance, in spite of adding significant new protection technology to the release. Independent 3rd party test lab, PassMark Software was commissioned to benchmark Symantec and top security software competitors’ performance impact on key metrics4. Highlights from this report include:

* Fast install — Norton Internet Security 2010 installs in about a minute
* Least working memory usage — Norton Internet Security 2010 uses just over 10MB
* Fastest scan — Norton Internet Security 2010 scans in only 61 seconds on a Hard Disk Drive and in only 31 seconds on an Solid State Drive.


Intuitive, Easy Everyday Experience
The Norton Insight family of technologies in the new 2010 products uses extensive online intelligence systems to proactively protect the PC and keep users informed of the security and performance impact of files and applications that they encounter in their everyday online experience.

* Norton Download Insight – Uses extensive online intelligence systems leveraging reputation to proactively protect your PC. Analyzes and reports on the safety of new files and applications before users install and run them.
* Norton System Insight – Provides features and easy-to-understand system information to help keep PCs performing at top speed. Automatic and on-demand application optimization rejuvenates application performance. Provides a view of recent events on the computer, providing the information required to research and analyze PC issues. Performance graphs help pinpoint what’s causing a computer to slow down.
* Norton Threat Insight – Provides details on threats that have been detected on your PC – including useful information on where it came from (the URL) and when it was initially encountered.
* Norton Insight Network – Leverages a cloud-based approach unique to Symantec. Based on the Quorum technology, it takes cloud-based security beyond traditional blacklists and whitelists. It uses a statistical analysis of file attributes based on billions of scans on millions of computers to identify the trust level of a file. This way Norton can identify files to be trustworthy or untrustworthy that would otherwise fall into the grey area of the unknown with only traditional security methods.


Additional key technologies:

* SONAR 2 – Sophisticated second-generation behavioral security technology that detects entirely new threats based on their suspicious actions, without the need for traditional fingerprints. Leverages data from the reputation cloud, firewall, network communications (IPS), and file attributes such as location on the PC, origin information, etc., to decide when to detect a program as a threat.
* New Antispam (Norton Internet Security only) – Powerful Enterprise-grade spam blocking engine helps keep you clear of unwanted email and safe from email-based scams and infections. 20% more effective than the previous engine and requires no training.
* Norton Safe Web (Norton Internet Security only) – Website rating service that annotates Google, Yahoo! and Live.com search results with site safety ratings to warn users about sites that may pose a danger to them. It also includes ecommerce safety ratings to help users make safer online shopping decisions.
* OnlineFamily.Norton (Norton Internet Security only) – Norton Internet Security 2010 users can opt to try a subscription to OnlineFamily.Norton, a new Web-based service that keeps parents in the loop on their kids online lives and fosters communication about what’s appropriate and inappropriate behavior on the Internet.


Free Technical Support

* Symantec continues to deliver free support to Norton 2010 customers across all available channels – via the web, email, chat or phone 5
* In addition to free support, Symantec hosts a thriving Norton Users Discussion Forum which is open to the public to share their knowledge and experience with Norton products.


Availability, Compatibility and Pricing

Norton Internet Security 2010 and Norton AntiVirus 2010 are available now for purchase in the U.S. through retailers and the Symantec online store at www.symantecstore.com as well as various retail locations and online.

Norton Internet Security 2010 Netbook Edition will be available through Symantec’s retail channel partners in select countries worldwide. This special edition Norton Internet Security Netbook Edition delivers the fastest, lightest6 online threat protection available for netbook PCs. It warns of unsafe websites, secures connections to public Wi-Fi hot spots and prevents dangerous software from downloading when surfing the web. Users can visit social networking sites, browse, buy and bank on line with confidence.

Norton 2010 products support Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. All latest versions (2009, 2010) of Norton flagship products including Norton 360, Norton Internet Security and Norton AntiVirus will be Microsoft Windows 7 compatible as of the general availability (GA) of the new operating system. Norton users of these products with a valid subscription will receive the compatibility updates delivered automatically online at no additional cost.

The suggested retail price for Norton Internet Security 2010 is US$69.99 for a three PC license, which includes a one-year service subscription to use the product and receive Symantec’s protection updates. The suggested retail price of Norton AntiVirus 2010 is US$39.99 which includes a one-year service subscription to use the product and receive Symantec’s protection updates. All Norton Internet Security and Norton AntiVirus users with a valid product subscription are eligible to receive the latest product updates via the subscription service model. For more information, visit the Norton Update center at http://updatecenter.norton.com.

About Norton From Symantec

Symantec’s Norton products protect consumers from traditional threats with antivirus, anti-spyware and phishing protection, as well as bots, drive-by downloads and identity theft-- while also being light on system resources. The company also provides services such as online backup and PC tuneup, and is a trusted source for family online safety.

About Symantec

Symantec is a global leader in providing security, storage and systems management solutions to help consumers and organizations secure and manage their information-driven world. Our software and services protect against more risks at more points, more completely and efficiently, enabling confidence wherever information is used or stored. More information is available at www.symantec.com.

Note to Editors: If you would like additional information on Symantec Corporation and its products, please visit the Symantec News Room at http://www.symantec.com/news. All prices noted are in U.S. dollars and are valid only in the United States.

Symantec and the Symantec Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

1 ”Fastest Security Suite” based on scan speed. Source: PassMark Software, “Antivirus, Internet Security and Total Security Products Performance Benchmarking (2010),” September 2009 http://www.passmark.com/AVReport.

2 Symantec Internet Security Threat Report Volume XIV, April 2009

3 AV-Test.org published results online: http://www.pcgameshardware.de/aid,689241/Norton-Anti-Virus-2010-Beta-Erster-Test/Sicherheit/Test/, July 2009

4 Test System: Vista Core Duo, IBM/Lenovo A55 ThinkCentre Desktop, Intel Core 2 6300 @1.86GHz, 2GB RAM, WD 250GB Hard drive, running Windows VISTA Ultimate 32bit SP2 OS Source: Passmark Ltd., Sept. 2, 2009

5 Availability of support channels vary by region, and regular Internet connection fees and call charges may apply in certain countries. For full support details, please visit www.symantec.com/globalsupport

6 Passmark Ltd., Sept. 2, 2009 www.passmark.com/avreport