Symantec and IBM Global Services Join Forces to Help Companies Hit by W97M.Melissa Virus

IBM's Virus Emergency Response Service available to customers troubled by macro virus outbreak

CUPERTINO, Calif. - April 1, 1999 - Symantec Corporation (Nasdaq: SYMC) and IBM Global Services (IGS) (NYSE: IBM) announced today the availability of IBM's Virus Emergency Response Service to help corporate organizations that may have been infected by the W97M.Melissa macro virus.

Discovered by Symantec on Friday, March 26, the W97M.Melissa virus is one of the fastest spreading and most insidious viruses ever detected. It has the potential to infect files in a computer and send them to 50 email addresses without the computer user being aware.

Detection and repair for the macro virus is already available to companies using Norton AntiVirus. IBM's Virus Emergency Response Service exists to help companies overcome and recover from outbreaks of W97M.Melissa and other viruses. The service is provided by virus analysts from IBM Global Services Business Recovery Services using Norton AntiVirus software.

"W97M.Melissa has the potential to be a particularly malicious virus. We have been working with customers to minimize the impact of the virus on their infrastructures," said Michael L. Puldy, global solutions executive at IBM Global Services. "In addition to the disruption the virus could inflict on an organization, it is important for companies to be confident that the virus has been fully eradicated from their network and that there is zero likelihood of them passing it on to customers."

He adds that Virus Emergency Response Service technicians will work either remotely or on-site with customers to assess the scope of the virus outbreak and develop a plan to remove the virus, repair infected data and resolve all other issues caused by the outbreak. If required, the team will recommend Norton AntiVirus software be deployed as part of this process.

"Norton AntiVirus has already helped millions of customers since W97M.Melissa was discovered by detecting and removing the virus and repairing infected files," said John Bruce, vice president of alliances at Symantec. "Corporate customers also need to be able to deploy their solution effectively, thoroughly and quickly. Norton AntiVirus has been developed to be easy for network administrators to manage and administer across vast networks. That's why it is the best tool for the Virus Emergency Response Service to use."

To contact IBM's Virus Emergency Response Service please contact: ers-sales@ers.ibm.com.

About Norton AntiVirus
Norton AntiVirus 5.0 is the industry's leading automatic, comprehensive virus protection software for Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT workstations. Norton AntiVirus 5.0 offers users increased security and ease of use, while continuing to provide protection at all virus entry points, including shared floppy disks, the Internet, e-mail attachments, and networks. Norton AntiVirus 5.0 includes Symantec's next-generation heuristics scanner, Bloodhound, as well as a Trojan Horse detection engine to prevent virus infection from Internet sources and state-of-the-art technology to automatically block destructive Active X and Java applets from entering a user's computer.

About Symantec and IBM
In May 1998 Symantec and IBM announced an alliance in which IBM assigned its anti-virus customer base to Symantec and agreed to recommend and re-market Norton AntiVirus to its customers worldwide. The two companies also agreed to develop IBM's Digital Immune System technology for inclusion in the Norton AntiVirus family of products.

About IBM Global Services
IBM Global Services is the world's largest information technology services provider, with 1998 revenues of approximately $29 billion. Services is the fastest growing part of IBM, with more than 126,000 professionals operating in 160 countries. IBM Global Services integrates all of IBM's capabilities -- services, hardware, software and research -- to help companies of all sizes realize the full value of information technology. For more information visit www.ibm.com/services.

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.

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