Symantec Acquires L-3 Network Security's Vulnerability Assessment Solutions and Security Consulting Business

CUPERTINO, Calif. - Feb. 14, 2000 - Symantec Corporation (Nasdaq: SYMC) and L-3 Network Security, a privately owned subsidiary of L-3 Communications Corp., LLC (NYSE: LLL) today announced they have signed a definitive agreement for Symantec to acquire the vulnerability management solutions, consulting business and employees of L-3 Network Security for a one-time cash payment of $20 million.

With this acquisition, Symantec will gain Retriever™ and Expert™, two leading security assessment and management products used by some of the world's largest organisations, as well as one of the most experienced teams of security consultants and engineers in the industry.

"As hackers and virus writers increasingly blend the types of attacks they unleash on the world's computers, enterprise customers are looking to their security partner to provide more comprehensive security services," said John W. Thompson, Symantec chairman, president and CEO. "With the acquisition of L-3 Network Security, Symantec will add Expert and Retriever to its best of breed solutions, expanding its security offering to meet a wide range of customer security needs including virus protection, internet content and e-mail filtering, risk analysis, vulnerability assessment and policy development."

"One of L-3's key strategies is to select applications from its defence electronic technologies, develop them into commercial products and then partner with or sell them to companies that have a proven marketing infrastructure. L-3 Network Security's vulnerability assessment solutions and security consulting business are a natural extension of Symantec's current security offering, and, as a leader in the world-wide market for Internet security and virus protection, Symantec has the commercial expertise, corporate channel reach and enterprise customer base to significantly expand this business," said Frank C. Lanza, chairman and chief executive officer of L-3 Communications. "L-3 Network Security's solutions have been well received by customers in the military and commercial world. Market potential for these solutions is substantial as more and more of the world's commerce is conducted over the Internet and we believe Symantec is best positioned to help enterprise customers protect their businesses as they open their networks for e-commerce."

Vulnerability Assessment Solutions
The Retriever ™ and Expert ™ products give customers a foundation to quickly and effectively design, implement and manage network security policies to further protect their company's content. Together these solutions determine, monitor and enforce precise security levels and practices.

Retriever™ provides proactive network security management that automatically discovers and maps network components, unobtrusively identifies vulnerabilities, offers safeguard and policy recommendations, and performs customisable network audits. Unlike other security tools, Retriever helps develop a baseline for implementing best-practice security policies that can be easily monitored and enforced without jeopardising network performance.

Expert™ is one of the industry's first solutions for comprehensive network risk analysis that can measure and manage network data and perform a meaningful business impact analysis. Expert identifies the assets and critical business functions most at risk to a company, and assesses the potential business impact and financial loss incurred in the event of a network attack or failure.

L-3 Communications will continue to serve the commercial information security market with a number of important products, including Integrated Key Management System™ (IKMS™) and Privatel™. IKMS™ is an innovative security product that provides banks, corporations, and e-businesses with automatic key management of their cryptographic assets. Privatel™ is personal telephone security device that enables users to speak securely with strong encryption and clear voice quality from virtually any telephone in the world.

Completion of the Transaction
Completion of the transaction is dependent upon termination of waiting periods for the Hart Scott Rodino anti-trust filing with the Department of Justice and satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

About L-3 Network Security
L-3 Network Security (www.L-3security.com) provides comprehensive security solutions to enterprise customers. The company's security consultants assist clients in security assessment planning and design, while the company's software products allow customers to proactively assess, manage and monitor network vulnerability levels and security policy compliance. In addition, the company has a network of authorised resellers and integrators who can assist customers with product training, installation and support. Headquartered in Denver, CO, the company has offices in San Antonio, Washington, D.C. and London.

About L-3 Communications
Headquartered in New York City, L-3 Communications is a leading merchant supplier of secure communications systems and products, avionics and ocean products, training products, microwave components and telemetry, instrumentation, space and wireless products. Its customers include the Department of Defence, selected U.S. government intelligence agencies, aerospace prime contractors and commercial telecommunications and cellular customers.

About Symantec
Symantec, a world leader in Internet security technology, provides content security solutions to enterprise organisations and helps companies manage and support workforces that use computers and other mobile devices.

Symantec's Canadian operations are headquartered in Toronto with offices in Montreal, Ottawa, and Vancouver. For more information on Symantec products or current promotions, contact the Canadian office at (416) 441-3676 or access Symantec's Canadian web-site at www.symantec.ca. Symantec is an active member of the Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft (CAAST).

NOTE TO EDITORS: If you would like additional information on Symantec Corporation and its products, please view the Symantec Press Centre on Symantec's web site. Brands and products referenced herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Brands and products referenced herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

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 and all quarterly reports filed subsequent to such date.