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Symantec’s National Cyber Safe Challenge Gives Schools the Chance to Win Cash Prizes While Keeping Students Safe Online


WEBWIRE

CUPERTINO, Calif. – To encourage parents to be more involved in their children’s online lives, Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC) launched today the Norton Cyber Safe Challenge, giving schools across the country the opportunity to win cash awards totaling $35,000. With school back in full swing, kids are making new friends and exploring new activities – both online and off – and, with each new grade level, they’re not just getting older, they’re getting more computer-savvy. But, while parents are concerned their kids will come across Internet dangers, they’re not talking to them about appropriate online behavior*.

The Norton Cyber Safe Challenge begins today, October 1, and runs through November 15, 2009 as part of the activities associated with October’s National Cyber Security Awareness Month. The grand prize of $20,000 will be awarded to the school with the highest number of subscriptions to Norton’s family safety service, OnlineFamily.Norton. Schools can register to participate at http://onlinefamily.norton.com/contest. There are no financial costs for schools to participate in the program. Norton will offer families that participate in the program unlimited free access to OnlineFamily.Norton.

Second and third place prizes of $10,000 and $5,000 respectively will be awarded to the schools with the highest percentage of parents participating relative to school size, evening the playing field for smaller schools.

“We put together the Norton Cyber Safe Challenge because we wanted to create a win-win for schools and families,” said Marian Merritt, Symantec’s Internet Safety Advocate. “Schools have a chance to receive extra funding and families benefit from access to OnlineFamily.Norton, which opens up communication about online activities in the household and helps keep kids safe online.”

About OnlineFamily.Norton

OnlineFamily.Norton is available at http://onlinefamily.norton.com in English with comprehensive filtering for U.S. and Canadian sites. Filtering support is also provided for English Web sites in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa, but the service is not fully optimized for these countries.

As a Web-based service, OnlineFamily.Norton is able to track the Internet activities of each child in real-time. Parents enjoy peace of mind with instant reporting and the convenience of accessing their account anytime from any Internet-connected device.

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. Friend us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/norton and follow @NortonOnline on Twitter.

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.

*Symantec conducted the Norton Online Living Family Survey in March 2009, which surveyed more than one thousand parents of children aged 8-15 and more than one thousand children aged 8-15. According to the survey, technology is creating a gap in family communication. In fact, while parents are concerned about online dangers, they may lack the savvy to talk with kids. However, the data reveals that parents and kids, even teens, do want to talk to each other more frequently about their day-to-day lives.

Forward-looking Statements: This forward-looking indication of plans for products is preliminary and all future release dates are tentative and are subject to change. Any future release of the product or planned modifications to product capability, functionality or feature are subject to ongoing evaluation by Symantec, and may or may not be implemented and should not be considered firm commitments by Symantec and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions.



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