IBM to remarket Symantec's Norton AntiVirus product line

SYDNEY --NSW - January 19, 1999 -- - IBM has announced that it will remarket Symantec's Norton AntiVirus Solutions Suite through the IBM/Lotus Passport Advantage Program. It is currently available in Australia and New Zealand.

This announcement is an extension of the relationship IBM and Symantec Corporation announced in May 1998, when they said they would join forces to deliver a single family of anti-virus products - based on Norton AntiVirus technology and IBM Research Division's industry-leading Digital Immune System - and marketed under the Norton AntiVirus brand name. Symantec is the only independent software vendor to be included in the IBM/Lotus Passport Advantage Program, which is available to corporate customers worldwide.

"IBM/Lotus is very pleased to be able to offer the Symantec Norton AntiVirus solution to customers of our Passport Advantage Program," said Peter Taylor, Managing Director of Lotus Development in Australia and New Zealand. "The partnership between Lotus and Symantec ensures the delivery of a cost effective and complete anti-virus solution for our corporate customers."

"Our partnership with IBM and the addition of their immune technology into the Norton AntiVirus product line will have enormous benefits for customers. The inclusion of Norton AntiVirus in the Passport Advantage program increases these benefits by offering Passport customers a complete anti-virus solution and a simple and cost effective approach to purchasing anti-virus software," said John Donovan, General Manager, Symantec Australia and New Zealand.

Symantec's Norton AntiVirus Solutions Suite reduces potential security costs and eliminates all types of viruses from a wide range of sources, such as the Internet, floppy disks, e-mail attachments, and malicious Web sites. It also guards against newly created viruses enabled by features that hunt out "virus-like" behaviour.

Viruses are one of the leading data security problems in business today. In a recent study of 300 medium and large enterprises, the International Computer Security Association found that complete recovery from a server-based virus incident took an average of 46 hours and involved a staff of more than 9 MIS personnel. Enterprises reported an average of 86 virus encounters per 1,000 machines per year, at an average cost of US$2,454 for each encounter, resulting in a total of US$212,271 per 1,000 desktop computers per year.

Lotus Notes, firewall and Internet e-mail gateway users can also take advantage of all the features and benefits of the new IBM Norton AntiVirus bundle to support their complex computing environments. Customers will receive support for Norton AntiVirus directly through Symantec's worldwide customer support program organisation.

Passport Advantage is a comprehensive software volume, Software Subscription and customer support program that saves organisations money at every stage of software licensing, everywhere in the world. It offers a flexible and cost-effective way for organisations with 25 or more PCs to reap the benefits of volume pricing for new software, new releases of the latest technology and support to keep business up and running. For more information on the Passport Advantage program, visit the Lotus web site at www.lotus.com.

About Symantec
Symantec Corporation helps make computer users productive and keep their systems safe and reliable anywhere, anytime. The company is focused on addressing customer needs in three main application areas: the Norton product line of anti-virus and PC-assistance products; the pcAnywhere, WinFax and ACT! product lines that cater to remote user productivity; and the Cafe product lines in Internet development tools.

Founded in 1982, Symantec maintains corporate headquarters in Cupertino, California with regional offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Hong Kong, Beijing, Taiwan, Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore and Malaysia. Traded on Nasdaq under the symbol SYMC, Symantec is ranked in the top ten international software vendors and employs more than 2,000 people worldwide. Information on the company and its products can be obtained at the Symantec Asia-Pacific Press Centre on the World Wide Web at http://www.symantec.com/region/au_nz/PressCenter/index.html.

All information contained in press release is accurate and valid at of the date of issue. All content is subject to change. For the latest information about Symantec Corporation and Symantec products, please contact:  www.symantec.com.