CUPERTINO, Calif. - March 8, 2004 - Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC), the world leader in Internet Security, today announced Symantec Mail Security 4.5 for Microsoft Exchange – now with optimized support for Microsoft Exchange 2003, heuristics-based spam prevention, and sender and recipient white listing. Symantec Mail Security 4.5 for Microsoft Exchange is a comprehensive, integrated mail security solution providing enterprise organizations with content filtering, spam prevention, and industry leading antivirus protection in a single solution.

“Exchange Server is a critical component of today’s enterprise networks,” said Greg Gotta, vice president, gateway and network security, Symantec Corporation. “The enhancements made in Symantec Mail Security 4.5 for Microsoft Exchange respond to the diverse security needs of Symantec’s enterprise customers.”

Symantec Mail Security 4.5 for Microsoft Exchange provides enterprises with flexible, rules-based content filtering, multi-layered spam prevention, and industry leading antivirus protection. The solution is easy to configure and manage, and is backed by Symantec Security Response, the world's leading Internet security research and support organization. New features in this version include:

• Optimized Support for Exchange 2003
  Symantec Mail Security 4.5 for Microsoft Exchange fully supports Microsoft Exchange 2003 including support for the new Virus Scan API 2.5 which provides faster performance and secure scanning of all message bodies and attachments. Symantec Mail Security 4.5 for Microsoft Exchange also supports Microsoft’s new Spam Confidence Layer (SCL) method of categorizing spam messages after analysis by the heuristic anti-spam engine.
• Heuristic anti-spam engine
  The heuristic anti-spam engine controls spam by performing an analysis on incoming messages looking for key characteristics of spam and weighing the findings against key characteristics of legitimate email. It then assigns a confidence rating depending on how certain it is that the message is in fact spam.
• Score-based spam handling
  Score based spam handling allows an IT Administrator to determine how to best handle messages based on the assigned spam rating. For example, messages with a high Spam Confidence Level can be dropped while messages that are less definite can be allowed to pass through with a “SPAM” appended subject line.
• Sender and Recipient Whitelisting
  Sender whitelisting allows the IT Administrator to develop a whitelist of trusted senders whose messages bypass the real-time blacklist (RBL) look-up and heuristic anti-spam engine. This prevents false positives for messages from trusted senders. With recipient whitelisting, the IT Administrator can create a list of recipients that do not want their messages to undergo a real-time blacklist look-up or heuristics analysis.

Availability
Symantec Mail Security 4.5 for Microsoft Exchange provides comprehensive protection, detection and removal of security threats in Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 and Exchange Server 2003 environments. Symantec Mail Security 4.5 for Microsoft Exchange is available now through Symantec's worldwide network of value-added resellers, distributors and systems integrators. Organizations seeking a reseller or distributor should contact Symantec at https://partnernet.symantec.com/internet/locator/Locator01.asp.

About Symantec
Symantec is the world leader in providing solutions to help individuals and enterprises assure the security, availability, and integrity of their information. Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Symantec has operations in more than 40 countries. More information is available at www.symantec.com.

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FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT: This press release contains forward-looking statements, including forecasts of future revenue and earnings per share, expected industry patterns, and other financial and business results that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from results expressed or implied by this press release. Such risk factors include, among others: the sustainability of recent growth rates, particularly in consumer products; whether certain market segments, particularly enterprise security, grow as anticipated; the positioning of Symantec's products in those segments; the competitive environment in the software industry; ability to integrate acquired companies and technology; ability to retain key employees; ability to successfully combine product offerings and customer acceptance of combined products; general market conditions, fluctuations in currency exchange rates, changes to operating systems and product strategy by vendors of operating systems; and whether Symantec can successfully develop new products and the degree to which these gain market acceptance. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements in this press release. Additional information concerning these and other risk factors is contained in the Risk Factors sections of Symantec’s previously filed Form 10-K and Form 10-Q.