Ministry of Education chooses Norton AntiVirus to protect computer systems in Singapore schools

SINGAPORE -- December 7, 1999 - Symantec Corporation has announced that the Ministry of Education (MOE) has selected Norton AntiVirus as its choice enterprise anti-virus solution for public schools in Singapore. All Government and Government-aided primary and secondary schools plus junior colleges with a total of about 55,000 servers and workstations will use Norton AntiVirus Solution Suite over a two-year period to secure their IT systems against virus threats.

"Under our Masterplan for IT in education, IT will be used extensively to enhance the quality of teaching and learning in schools. To achieve this aim, all teachers and pupils are provided with access to computers and it is essential that the IT systems in the schools are protected against virus attacks at all times," said Ong Lih Ling, Senior Information Systems Manager, Information Technology Branch at Ministry of Education. "With its leading technology and comprehensive protection features, we are confident that Norton AntiVirus will help ensure a secure computing environment in all our schools."

"We applaud the Ministry's far-sighted initiative to leverage IT in the field of education and are proud that Norton AntiVirus will play a key role in ensuring a safe computing environment for students to learn in," said Ross Wilson, Symantec's Regional Director for South East Asia. "Symantec is committed to employing the most advanced technology to provide users with up-to-date anti-virus solution that protects against present and future virus threats and is yet easy to administer."

Technical strengths in virus detection and repair, and easy-to-use management capabilities were among MOE's main selection criteria. Offering cost-effective protection for multi-platform environments against viruses at the desktop, server and gateway levels, Norton AntiVirus Solution Suite incorporates Norton System Center, a centralised management tool that will enable school network administrators to easily and automatically deploy, configure, monitor, update, and comprehensively manage the software on their school IT networks.

Norton AntiVirus includes enhanced features such as LiveUpdate, a simple process to get the most up-to-date virus definitions from the Symantec web site, as well as Scan and Deliver which enables users to use the Internet to send suspicious files to the Symantec AntiVirus Centre (SARC) for analysis. It also includes a modular engine called NAVEX that allows Symantec to automatically and seamlessly ship fundamental changes to the virus scanning engine with every virus definition update.

Norton AntiVirus has received numerous certifications and awards from leading industry bodies and publications. Most recently, Norton AntiVirus products were among the first to receive the ICSA Cleaning Certification. Certified products include Norton AntiVirus for Win 3.x, Norton AntiVirus for Windows 95/98, Norton AntiVirus for Windows NT Workstation and Server, and Norton AntiVirus for NetWare. The new certification tests a product's ability to not only detect viruses found "in the wild", but to also remove viruses from computer systems. The testing certifies that the cleaning process also leaves the file intact while effectively removing the virus.

Norton AntiVirus is backed by the worldwide support of SARC which comprises a dedicated team of virus experts whose mission is to provide swift, global responses to computer virus threats, proactively research and develop technologies that eliminate such threats, and educate the public on safe computing practices. SARC provides customers with round-the-clock virus protection through fully staffed research centers in Sydney, Australia - its Asia Pacific headquarters, the US, Japan and the Netherlands.

About Symantec
Symantec is a world leader in Internet security technology and technology solutions that help companies manage and support workforces that use laptop computers and other mobile devices.

The company is a leading provider of software products for the consumer market and is rapidly growing its presence as a provider of solutions to enterprise organizations

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NOTE TO EDITORS: Founded in 1982, Symantec maintains corporate headquarters in Cupertino, California with regional offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland. Traded on Nasdaq under the symbol SYMC, Symantec is ranked in the top ten international software vendors and employs more than 2,300 people worldwide. Information on the company and its products can be obtained at the Symantec Singapore Press Centre.