Symantec Announces Next Generation Intelligent Web Filtering Technology

-- Dynamic, real-time server-based filtering technology blocks access to objectionable content web sites --

Toronto, August 23, 1999 - Symantec Corporation (Nasdaq: SYMC) announced today that it has received a "Notice of Allowance" from the U.S. Patent Office following the company's application to patent technology that can filter websites and dynamically block objectionable content.

The Notice of Allowance, which precedes the award of a full patent, underlines Symantec's recently announced strategic focus on Internet security. The technology being patented, which is a component of Symantec's I-Gear product, has been developed by URLabs, the Hampton VA. company that Symantec acquired last month.

Unlike competitive URL filtering technologies, which rely solely on mapping short strings of text against an indexed, pre-categorised database of undesirable web sites, the Symantec Dynamic Document Review (DDR) technology screens the content of a Web page in real time by analysing the context of a passage of text. By customising filtering profiles, the technology can make an intelligent decision to allow or deny access to the Web page.

Without having to rely purely on a database of off-limits URLs, the benefit, according to Gary Warren, Symantec vice president and former CEO of URLabs, is that the technology can keep up with the explosion of new sexually explicit, gambling and other undesirable content websites. "The drawback with the database approach is that the database will always be out of date and something will always slip through," he says. According to PC Dataonline, about 10 percent of websites are sexually explicit. 4.2 million people, approximately nine percent of the total Internet using population, accessed the most popular adult site in July alone. In total, says PC Dataonline, almost 20 million hours a month are spent on sexually explicit websites, roughly the same amount of time spent on news groups. Every month Internet users spend 31 million hours gambling on-line.

"It's a growing issue which parents and educational organisations have been aware of and concerned about for some time," says Warren. "Now companies are beginning to realise the impact in terms of lost productivity as well."

According to market analyst firm, International Data Corporation (IDC), the Internet access control market is one of the fastest growing sectors in Internet security. IDC says the market will grow 53 percent annually and be worth $260 million in 2003.

In commercial environments, the Symantec DDR technology can be configured by systems administrators to suit a company's specific needs. According to Nielsen Media Research, inappropriate use of the Internet to surf news, sports, gambling and shopping websites is costing companies hard cash. In a report, Nielsen says that in one month access to the Penthouse Web site by employees of three Fortune 100 companies cost over $350,000 in lost revenues and productivity.

"Companies rely on the Internet to do business efficiently and productively," says Warren. "But unless measures and policies are put in place, the reality is that companies' productivity levels are impacted leading to lost revenue and reduced competitiveness."

Facts About Inappropriate Web Usage

• Approximately 10 percent of all websites are pornographic in nature. Pornographic sites are visited by 317,000 unique users every month. Gaming sites average approximately 500,000 unique users per month.
• The Cybersmuggling Unit of the Department of Customs in Sterling, VA. experienced a 185 percent increase in child pornography cases in a year. (source: FBI).
• At the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Los Angeles, where monitors follow links from hate-group Web sites, some 2,000 sites surfaced as "problematic." These, for example, offered instructions in bomb-making, or rock music espousing hatred or youth clubs extolling the Ku Klux Klan.
• According to the Southern Poverty Law Centre, the number of "problematic" sites has grown by 60 percent in the last year -- from 163 in January 1998 to 254 in January 1999. In 1995, one such site existed.

About Symantec in Canada:
With 250 employees, Symantec's Canadian operations are headquartered in Toronto with offices in Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver. For information on Symantec products or current promotions, contact the Canadian office at (416) 441-3676 or access Symantec's Canadian Web Site. Symantec is an active member of the Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft (CAAST).

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.

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, Calif., 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 and are valid only in the United States.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT: This press release contains forward-looking statements. There are certain important factors that could cause Symantec's future development efforts to differ materially from those anticipated by some of the statements made above. Among these are the anticipation of the growth of certain market segments, the positioning of Symantec's products in those segments, the competitive environment in the software industry, dependence on other products, changes to operating systems and product strategy by vendors of operating systems, and the importance of new Symantec products. Additional information concerning those and other factors is contained in the "Risk Factors" section of the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 2, 1999.