Symantec Announces Winners of Programming Competition

MIT, Oregon State and University of Wisconsin Students Earn Top Honors for Creativity and Innovation in Software Engineering

Toronto, ON - April 5, 2006 - Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced the winners of its first University Programming Competition. Matthew Menke, a student enrolled at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), earned first place and was awarded $10,000; Bryant Brownell, enrolled at Oregon State University, earned second place and was awarded $5,000; and Louis Kruger, enrolled at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, earned third place and was awarded $3,000.

"Symantec is excited to see such a diversity of creative solutions to this programming challenge. Students had to employ ingenuity, problem-solving, and engineering discipline to build the most effective artificial life-form," said Carey Nachenberg, vice president and Symantec Fellow, Symantec Research Labs. "We commend each participant for contributing to the success of this challenging event, and we are delighted to recognize Matthew Menke, Bryant Brownell, and Louis Kruger for their exceptional engineering achievements. Symantec remains committed to helping cultivate the next-generation of technologists that will create the tools to enable consumers and businesses to thrive in a digital world."

Symantec and eWeek teamed for its first North American university programming competition aimed at encouraging creativity and innovation in software engineering. The event was held Feb. 22, 2006 to Feb. 28, 2006 and was open to applicants who were enrolled in a university program in the United States or Canada, were residents of the United States or Canada, and had reached the age of majority in their state or province of residence. In all, 196 students entered the competition.

Competitors had one week to program an artificial life-form that survived and thrived in a virtual world. A simple, specially designed programming language was provided, thereby enabling entrants with even introductory programming knowledge to participate. The entrant who built the most efficient and robust virtual organism won the competition.

In addition to receiving cash prizes, the top three finishers-Menke, Brownell, and Kruger-also won a trip to Symantec's Mountain View, Calif. office to meet with Symantec leaders. For more information on the competition, visit http://www.symantec.com/specprog/university/.

About Symantec

Symantec is the world leader in providing solutions to help individuals and enterprises assure the security, availability, and integrity of their information. Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Symantec has operations in more than 40 countries. More information is available at www.symantec.com.

Symantec's Canadian operations are headquartered in Toronto with offices in Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary 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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