Norton AntiVirus to be used by Bell Atlantic under Multi-Year Contract with Symantec

-- Bell Atlantic Migrates More than 70,000 Nodes Worldwide --

CUPERTINO, Calif. - July 15, 1998 - Symantec Corporation (Nasdaq: SYMC), the world leader in utility software for business and personal computing, today announced that Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc., premier provider of advanced wireline voice and data services and market leader in wireless services, has a multi-year contract to use Norton AntiVirus. The company plans to migrate more than 37,000 nodes to the Norton AntiVirus Solution Suite from IBM AntiVirus. In addition, Bell Atlantic has upgraded more than 35,000 nodes using Norton AntiVirus for the desktop to the Norton AntiVirus Solution Suite.

On May 19, Symantec and IBM announced a partnership to deliver a single family of anti-virus products that will be marketed under the Norton AntiVirus brand name. In addition, Symantec will license IBM's immune system technology and patents and will combine it with its own technology to produce a range of products, including new solutions to support IBM platforms. As part of the agreement, IBM has also assigned its existing anti-virus customer and OEM contracts to Symantec and will recommend Norton AntiVirus to its customers worldwide as the anti-virus solution of choice.

"This is evidence that IBM's customers are converting to Norton AntiVirus and that Symantec is fully committed to meeting all the needs of those customers. IBM chose Symantec because of their confidence in our ability to do so," said Enrique Salem, vice president of Symantec's Security and Assistance Business Unit. "Symantec understands the challenges IBM's customers face in making the transition to Norton AntiVirus and we are providing comprehensive solutions to support global companies like Bell Atlantic. Symantec's global strategy and robust multi-tier solution is representative of our serious commitment toward providing maximum virus protection that will help our new corporate customers remain productive and keep their computers safe and reliable at all times."

Symantec and IBM have communicated a transition program to help customers move to Norton AntiVirus. This includes a conversion software program, which can be deployed to uninstall IBM's anti-virus software and install Norton AntiVirus. There is no charge for customers to migrate to Norton AntiVirus and information packs including current versions of the Norton AntiVirus family of products have been sent to current IBM AntiVirus subscription customers.

The Norton AntiVirus product line includes a multi-tier strategy that integrates a powerful anti-virus solution at the desktops, servers, Internet e-mail gateways and firewalls to provide users with the most comprehensive virus detection and repair. The products provide users the security of knowing they have the most complete protection available, whether downloading files from the Internet, opening e-mail attachments or accessing floppy disks. Norton AntiVirus was reported to have provided users with 100 percent detection and repair of in-the-wild viruses, according to recent Virus Bulletin tests. In addition, Norton AntiVirus users receive cutting-edge protection against unknown file, boot and macro viruses with Symantec's revolutionary Bloodhound heuristic technology, which analyzes programs, detects unknown or new viruses, and enables the user to repair the infected file immediately. Users are also protected against other forms of malicious code including Trojan Horses, and malicious Java and ActiveX.

Symantec AntiVirus Research Center

All Norton AntiVirus products are backed by the worldwide research and support capabilities of the Symantec AntiVirus Research Center. SARC is the industry's largest dedicated team of virus experts. With offices located in the United States, Japan, Australia, and the Netherlands, the sun never sets on SARC. The center's mission is to provide swift, global responses to computer virus threats, proactively research and develop technologies that eliminate such threats, and educate the public on safe computing practices. As new computer viruses appear, SARC develops identification and detection for these viruses, and provides either a repair or delete operation, thus keeping users protected against the latest virus threats.

About Symantec

Symantec is the world leader in utility software for business and personal computing. Symantec products and solutions help make users productive and keep their computers safe and reliable anywhere and anytime. Symantec offers a broad range of solutions and is acclaimed as a leader in both customer satisfaction and product brand recognition. Symantec is traded on Nasdaq under the symbol SYMC. More information on the company and its products can be obtained at www.symantec.com.

NOTE TO EDITORS: If you would like additional information on Symantec Corporation and its products, view the Symantec Press Center at www.symantec.com/PressCenter/ on Symantec's Website.

Brands and products referenced herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. All prices noted are in US dollars and are valid only in the United States.