3M Protects 48,000-Node Enterprise With Norton AntiVirus

Norton AntiVirus Provides Protection Every Possible Virus Entry Point

Cupertino, Calif --October 21, 1998-- Symantec Corporation (Nasdaq: SYMC), the world leader in utility software for business and personal computing, today announced that 3M (NYSE: MMM) has a signed a contract to standardise on Norton AntiVirus. The company currently uses nearly all languages of Norton AntiVirus-including Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese-to protect its approximately 44,000 Windows 95 and Windows NT workstations around the world. Under the terms of the contract, 3M will expand its use of Norton AntiVirus to include 4,000 additional nodes, and include Norton AntiVirus products for Windows NT and e-mail servers, firewalls, and Internet e-mail gateways.

"As viruses become more sophisticated and prevalent, it is critical that corporations protect not only their workstations, but their file, print, and e-mail servers, firewalls, and Internet e-mail gateways," said Dave Ostby, IT LAN Services analyst at 3M. "Having seen the level of protection our 44,000 workstations across the globe receive with Norton AntiVirus, we are confident that installing Norton AntiVirus throughout 3M will greatly reduce the risk of virus infection from any source."

A key factor in winning the 3M contract includes Symantec's reputation for quality customer service worldwide, which includes around-the-clock backing by the Symantec AntiVirus Research Centre (SARC). In order to stay ahead of the accelerating proliferation of new computer viruses, SARC offers customer support through fully staffed research centres in Santa Monica, Calif.; Leiden, The Netherlands; Tokyo, Japan; and Sydney, Australia.

"This agreement with 3M, an influential and innovative corporation with a profound global presence, offers proof that Symantec products are true leaders in the international marketplace," said Enrique Salem, vice president of Symantec's Security and Assistance Business Unit. "We are very pleased that 3M has selected Norton AntiVirus to protect their worldwide network from costly and potentially devastating computer viruses."

The Norton AntiVirus product line includes a multi-tier strategy that integrates a powerful anti-virus solution at the desktop, server, Internet e-mail gateway, and firewall levels to provide users the most comprehensive virus detection and repair. Norton AntiVirus users receive cutting-edge protection against unknown file, boot, and macro viruses with Symantec's revolutionary Bloodhound heuristic technology, which analyses programs, detects unknown or new viruses, and enables the user to repair the infect file immediately. Users are also protected against other forms of malicious code, including Trojan Horses and malicious Java and Active X applets.

Symantec's Norton AntiVirus products have received numerous awards since January 1998, including PC Magazine's Editor's Choice in 1998 for Best AntiVirus Utility for the third year in a row, as well as the magazine's 1997 Best AntiVirus Utility award, PC World's Best Buy, and PC Computing's A-List. In addition, for the third time this year, Virus Bulletin awarded a Norton AntiVirus product its coveted VB 100% Award for detecting all in-the-wild viruses in VB's comprehensive test sets.

Symantec AntiVirus Research Centre
Norton AntiVirus and Norton AntiVirus IEG are backed by the Symantec AntiVirus Research Centre (SARC). 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 centre’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 in Canada:
With 250 employees, Symantec’s Canadian operations are headquartered in Toronto with offices in Montréal, Ottawa and Vancouver. For information on Symantec products or current promotions, contact the Canadian office at (416) 441-3676 or access the World Wide Web

About Symantec
Symantec Corporation helps 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. 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 Café product lines in Internet development tools.

Founded in 1982, the company's global operations span North America, Europe, Japan and several fast growing markets throughout Asia Pacific and Latin America. Traded on Nasdaq under the symbol SYMC, Symantec Corporation is based in Cupertino, California and employs more than 2,000 people. Information on the company and its products can be obtained by calling (800) 441-7234 toll free, (541) 334-6054 or accessed on the World Wide Web.

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