Norton AntiVirus Protects Against Unknown Password-Stealing Trojan Horses

Cupertino, Calif --November 12, 1998-- Symantec Corporation (Nasdaq: SYMC), the world leader in utility software for business and personal computing, today announced that the Symantec AntiVirus Research Center (SARC) has developed Bloodhound for Trojan Horses to combat the threat of unidentified password-stealing Trojan Horses. Bloodhound for Trojan Horses joins Symantec's Bloodhound, Bloodhound Macro, and Bloodhound Boot technologies to provide Norton AntiVirus users with the most expansive protection against new and unknown boot, file, and Word and Excel macro viruses, as well as Trojan Horses. Bloodhound for Trojan Horses is included with the current virus definitions at Symantec's web site www.symantec.com.

"The security risks associated with Trojan Horses are becoming more serious and widespread each day," said Enrique Salem, vice president of Symantec's Security and Assistance Business Unit. "With the addition of Bloodhound for Trojan Horses technology, Norton AntiVirus customers can be assured that they have the most powerful defense against unknown password-stealing Trojan Horses as well as protection from virus attacks from any source."

Approximately 90 percent of Trojan Horses found in circulation today are from online services. Significant numbers of Trojan Horses are designed to steal a user's login ID and password and then e-mail it to someone else who can make use of the account at the user's expense. Other Trojan Horses may display obscene messages on the user's screen or delete the contents of their hard drive.

Users typically get Trojan Horses by downloading a program that seems safe or promises the user something like free online time. Once it is downloaded and executed, the malicious code begins to work. The difference between Trojan Horses and traditional computer viruses is that Trojan Horses do not replicate or spread on their own. They can only be transmitted intentionally via e-mail or diskette or downloaded directly onto a PC. This means that, unlike a traditional computer virus, users are typically only affected once by a specific Trojan Horse.

Bloodhound for Trojan Horses was developed to combat the thousands of programs that steal passwords and credit card information from AOL users. Such programs may ask an AOL user to re-enter his or her password and credit card information and then send that information to an unauthorized third party. Because the majority of these new Trojan threats contain malicious code that is similar to existing threats, they can easily be detected using heuristic technology. To that end, Bloodhound for Trojan Horses uses a static heuristic method of detecting these new Trojan Horses. Based on in-house testing, Bloodhound for Trojan Horses is able to catch and then delete nearly 90 percent of these programs generically before they are able to cause damage.

AOL users can be sure their systems are protected with Bloodhound for Trojan Horses by simply updating their virus definitions using the LiveUpdate feature in Norton AntiVirus. LiveUpdate provides one-button access to new virus definitions and engine updates from Symantec's server. Bloodhound for Trojan Horses is available for all versions of Norton AntiVirus, on all platforms. Norton AntiVirus features a modular engine called NAVEX that allows Symantec to ship fundamental changes and updates to the engine technology across all platforms. LiveUpdate delivers this engine, but NAVEX is what keeps these changes small enough to download over the Internet.

About Norton AntiVirus
Norton AntiVirus multi-tier virus protection products are designed to protect the enterprise at the desktop, server, groupware servers, Internet, and gateway levels. Symantec's Norton AntiVirus products have received numerous awards since January 1998, including PC Magazine's Editor's Choice in 1998 for Best AntiVirus Utility for the third year in a row, as well as the magazine's 1997 Best AntiVirus Utility award, PC World's Best Buy, and PC Computing's A-List.

Symantec AntiVirus Research Center
The Symantec AntiVirus Research Center (SARC) is the industry's largest dedicated team of virus experts. With offices located in the United States, Japan, Australia, and the Netherlands, the sun never sets on SARC. The center's 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. As new computer viruses appear, SARC develops identification and detection for these viruses, and provides either a repair or delete operation, thus keeping users protected against the latest virus threats.

About Symantec
Symantec is the world leader in utility software for business and personal computing. Symantec products and solutions help make users productive and keep their computers safe and reliable anywhere and anytime. Symantec offers a broad range of solutions and is acclaimed as a leader in both customer satisfaction and product brand recognition. Symantec is traded on Nasdaq under the symbol SYMC. More information on the company and its products can be obtained at www.symantec.com.

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