Symantec Joins MSP Association, Defining Standards for Management Service Provider Sector

Cupertino, CA - Aug. 3, 2000 - Symantec Corp, (Nasdaq: SYMC) announced that it has joined the MSP Association, an international consortium of companies formed to define, shape and promote the emerging Management Service Provider sector.

The Massachusetts-based MSP Association, launched in June at PC Expo in New York, will define and promote the management service provider industry by providing a forum for discussion of industry issues, creating market education programs, sponsoring industry research and defining standards and best practices. The formation of the MSP Association is yet another indicator of how the Internet is changing the way companies manage their key assets by enabling them to outsource the management of their IT infrastructure. As a leader in Internet security, Symantec is eager to work with these management service providers to ensure that they can promise their customers a secure environment and an infrastructure that is protected from virus threats, malicious code and hacker attacks.

"We are delighted to be part of the MSP Association, and we are looking forward to working with other industry leaders to help identify and define the security requirements necessary for the industry to quickly reach its potential," said Dana Siebert, executive vice president and general manager of Symantec's Service Provider Solutions Division. "Working with other MSP Association industry leaders, we believe this organization will accelerate the adoption of open standards and quickly define the best practices for this important and emerging market."

MSP companies deliver information technology (IT) infrastructure management services over a network to multiple customers on a subscription basis. MSPs operate similarly to Application Service Providers (ASPs) in that they deliver services via a network that are billed to their clients. Unlike ASPs, which deliver business applications to end users, MSPs deliver system management services, such as resource monitoring and reporting, to IT departments and other customers who manage their own technology assets.

Recently, the association held its first Board of Directors meeting and elected officers: Chairman, Linda Shannon-Hills of HP OpenView; President, Michael Coffield of Nuclio; Vice President, Skip MacAskill of Silverback; and Secretary-Treasurer, Michael Gnoinski of ManageIT. Five working committees - Education, Technology, Research, Membership and Best Practices - have been formed to move forward the association's initiatives.

Companies interested in furthering awareness and growth of the MSP industry and in shaping its direction are invited to join the MSP Association. There are two levels of consortium participation available - Executive and Associate membership - with corresponding annual dues and privileges.

About Symantec
Symantec, a world leader in Internet security technology, provides a broad range of content and network security solutions to individuals and enterprises. The company is a leading provider of virus protection, risk management, Internet content and e-mail filtering, remote management and mobile code detection technologies to customers. Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Symantec has worldwide operations in more than 33 countries.

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).

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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, new security threats 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 March 31, 2000.