CUPERTINO, Calif. – Feb. 26, 2006 – Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced the availability of the newest product to join its award winning line of Norton products – Norton 360. The comprehensive solution combines Symantec’s proven, industry-leading technologies for antivirus, antispyware, firewall, intrusion protection, antiphishing, backup and tuneup, eliminating the need to purchase and manage multiple products. The all-in-one security service protects computers and the information stored in them from Internet threats and risks, as well as data loss, allowing computer users to freely engage in their everyday online activities without worry. Norton 360 helps restore computer users’ trust in the online world with transaction security features that protect against online fraud. Norton 360 also diagnoses and fixes common computer problems, optimizing PC performance and speed.
Automation, breadth of functionality, user experience and performance are the key design principles for Norton 360. Designed to work as automatically as possible, Norton 360 provides comprehensive protection while performing its duties in the background without interrupting users’ computing experience. The product is designed to offer a user experience that is reassuring, helpful and unobtrusive as the underlying technologies are seamlessly integrated for maximum performance and efficiency.
“People today use their computers for much more than work or storing documents. If you ask most computer users what they rely on their PC for, they’ll tell you they use it to surf the web, bank online, shop, keep in touch with friends and family, listen to music and store their favorite photos,” said Enrique Salem, group president, Consumer Business Unit, Symantec Corp. “Norton 360 was created with these activities in mind. It not only protects against traditional online threats, but it also helps secure users’ identity when transacting online and safeguards valuable files like music and photos.”
“With Norton 360, Symantec is rejuvenating its consumer product line.” said Andrew Jaquith, senior analyst, Yankee Group. “By combining the traditional security features with transaction security, data backup and performance tuning, products like Norton 360 will expand the market for consumer security and data protection solutions.”
“As online security threats continue to evolve and become more sophisticated, Norton 360 takes the hassle out of staying safer online,” said Paul Brody, vice president of desktop products for Yahoo!. “By working with Symantec, Yahoo! will be able to deliver this comprehensive, automated security solution to our users, enabling them to freely interact with communities and information that is important to them in the online world.”
“Buy.com is pleased to see Symantec offering consumers an all-in-one security service,” said Herb Criscito, vice president of sales and merchandising at Buy.com. “We’re eager to begin offering our Buy.com shoppers a comprehensive solution like Norton 360 to help protect their PCs from the onslaught of today’s online threats and risks, and to also safeguard the irreplaceable data files they store on their computers.”
Norton 360 is designed for mainstream computer users who require a comprehensive security solution that’s easy-to-use and requires minimal user interaction. The product delivers complete protection across five categories of functionality:
- PC Security – Norton 360 features Symantec’s industry-leading protection against a wide range of threats and risks, including viruses, spyware, hackers and more. The Symantec Online Network for Advanced Response (SONAR) is also included in Norton 360, providing behavior-based malware detection that identifies new threats in real-time based on application behavior. Norton 360 includes the ability to remove kernel mode rootkits through heuristics technology. Rootkits can pose a threat by granting attackers unauthorized access to confidential data on users’ computers. Norton 360 also boasts a smart firewall, intrusion prevention, vulnerability assessments and network detection, which automatically optimizes firewall protection using different security settings when connecting to various types of networks.
- Transaction Security – Antiphishing protection gives consumers the confidence they need to shop, bank and conduct other transactions on the Internet by protecting their online identity. Utilizing black list and heuristic techniques to recognize both known and unknown phishing sites, dangerous sites are clearly marked through seamless integration of the Norton Toolbar into Internet Explorer 6 and higher Web browsers. Norton 360 also features Web Site Authentication, which verifies the authenticity of trusted brands that are commonly phished.
- Backup and Restore – Norton 360 introduces new local and online backup and restore capabilities. Online backup is secured via users’ Norton Accounts as well as through encryption during file transfer and on the storage servers. The product includes 2 GB of online storage, and additional online storage can be purchased at $29.99 for 5 GB, $49.99 for 10 GB and $69.99 for 25 GB. Norton 360 automatically detects new or changed files and incrementally backs up those changes through custom backup scheduling or during idle time. Users can choose where to back up their content from a range of storage destinations including internal drives, CD/DVD drives, USB drives, mapped network drives, external hard drives or secured online backup.
- PC Tuneup – Norton 360 identifies and removes unnecessary clutter such as Windows Temp files, Internet Temp files and Internet History files. The PC Tuneup feature also analyzes and defragments hard disks for faster and more efficient operation. Norton 360’s Smart Background Scheduler monitors the system for user input, CPU usage and disk activity, throttling the product’s tasks and minimizing impact on the computing experience. When idle time parameters are met, the Background Scheduler automatically initiates remaining scans, backups and tuneups.
- Embedded Support – Norton 360 also includes embedded support, which automatically diagnoses and resolves common issues or guides users to easy issue resolution from within the context of the product. Users have easy access to Norton 360 technical support via phone, as well as free support via live chat and e-mail.
Norton 360 customers can also receive AntiSpam and Parental Controls through an optional add-on pack at no additional charge.
Norton 360 is backed by Symantec’s unmatched security knowledge and assets, including the company’s extensive Global Intelligence Network, which consists of the Symantec DeepSight Threat Management System and Symantec Managed Security Services, providing more than 40,000 sensors monitoring network activity in more than 180 countries. Norton 360 also takes advantage of Symantec’s Phish Report Network, an extensive antifraud community where members contribute and receive fraudulent Web site addresses for alerting and filtering, to protect consumers against fraudulent Web sites.
Pricing and Availability
Norton 360 is now available for purchase through the Symantec online store at www.symantecstore.com. It will be available for purchase at various retail locations and online retailers in March 2007. The optional add-on pack will be available to Norton 360 customers in mid-March 2007.
The suggested retail price of Norton 360 is US$79.99 (includes one-year service subscription to use the product and receive Symantec’s protection updates). Norton 360 can be installed on up to three PCs.
Norton security solutions are designed to leverage the Windows Vista operating system, offering the top-choice in Vista-compatible security performance. Norton 360, along with Norton Internet Security, Norton AntiVirus and Norton Confidential, delivers all-encompassing integration with Vista (34-bit and 64-bit) and Windows XP. Customers can now rely on Norton 360, featuring Norton’s patented technologies, to provide the most complete all-in-one security solution to protect against today’s and tomorrow’s threats.