Flawless Performance Earns Norton AntiVirus Products West Coast Labs' Checkmark Level Two Certification

Symantec AV Solutions Rate 100 Percent In-the-Wild Virus Detection and Disinfection Across Widest Range of Operating Platforms

CUPERTINO, Calif. - Aug. 31, 2000 - Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced that the Norton AntiVirus product line has earned the coveted Checkmark Level Two certification, the highest level of achievement awarded by independent testing and standards organization West Coast Labs. Checkmark Level Two certification is reserved for anti-virus solutions that both detect and disinfect all viruses categorized as in-the-wild by the WildList Organization International.

An integral component of the Symantec Enterprise Security solution, the Norton AntiVirus products passed the rigorous certification requirements and represent a growing collection of the most effective consumer and enterprise anti-virus products available. Current certified products operate on the following platforms: Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 98, Windows 95, Windows NT Server, Windows NT Workstation, Lotus Notes, and DOS.

"Checkmark certification has been developed as an independent standard of how effective an anti-virus product is when confronted by the most complex viruses," said Gail Hamilton. "We are honored by this recognition and pleased to provide this technology across an unprecedented number of today's most popular platforms, providing users everywhere with the most formidable protection against today's malicious code."

West Coast Labs' testing procedure is repeated quarterly to determine a product's continued level of detection and repair. The testing consists of a standard, a real-world industry accepted test, which can be administered by West Coast Labs or an accredited tester. If the product does not retain its perfect score, its Checkmark is suspended. And, if the manufacturer does not improve the product's performance, the product is withdrawn.

About Symantec
Symantec, a world leader in Internet security technology, provides a broad range of content and network security solutions to individuals and companies. The company is a leading provider of virus protection, risk management, Internet content and e-mail filtering, and mobile code detection technologies to enterprise customers. Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Symantec has worldwide operations in more than 24 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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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.