Symantec Announces Internet Security Solutions
Symantec Announces Most Comprehensive Line Of Internet Security Solutions With Added Protection Against The Latest Online Threats
New Consumer Software To Offer Broadest Defence Against Emerging Threats Including Spyware, Spam, Internet Worms, and Online Phishing Scams
Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC), the world leader in information security, today announced the latest line of Symantec consumer and home office internet security solutions, which feature enhanced levels of protection designed to address the newest and most rampant online threats. Led by Symantec’s integrated security and privacy protection suite, Norton Internet Security 2005, the new line of comprehensive solutions will also include best-of-breed core protection point products – Norton AntiVirus 2005, Norton Personal Firewall 2005, and Norton AntiSpam 2005.
Norton AntiVirus 2005 provides further automatic protection against blended threats like “Sasser” and “Blaster” with exclusive new Internet Worm Protection technology. Norton Personal Firewall 2005 and Norton AntiSpam 2005 each offer enhanced features for added defence against fraud and certain types of phishing scams. Norton Internet Security 2005 seamlessly integrates Symantec’s three core protection point products, and will incorporate Parental Controls, a web content filtering solution, along with a new Outbreak Alert feature – all in one easy-to-use solution.
“Because online security threats have quickly evolved with such high levels of complexity, consumer and home office PC users require more advanced levels of core protection solutions designed to deal specifically with a more sophisticated threat environment,” said Richard Batchelar, Country Manager, Symantec New Zealand. “Symantec’s new security products provide powerful, proactive defence to aggressively handle today’s most common and highly developed internet threats, all with easy-to-use automated convenience for optimal computing in a connected world.”
Powerful Protection From Viruses, Worms and Trojans
Norton AntiVirus 2005 features new Internet Worm Protection, which safeguards consumer and home office users from new types of fast-spreading blended internet worms that attack computer users’ systems through multiple entry points. Taking worm blocking technology to the next level, Internet Worm Protection blocks inbound online ports to prevent the spread of threats like “Sasser” and “Blaster” that propagate through system vulnerabilities not protected by traditional antivirus solutions.
Norton AntiVirus 2005 also provides reliable, automatic
scanning and removal of viruses, worms and Trojans without
requiring user intervention. Norton AntiVirus 2005 includes
spyware detection capabilities, which defend against
programs on the user’s computer that can be employed with
malicious intent to compromise the security of a system, spy
on the user’s private data, or track users’ online
behaviour.
Essential Defence Against Hackers and Privacy Thieves
To help intuitively protect users from privacy infringements with minimal interruptions, Norton Personal Firewall 2005 includes enhanced Privacy Controls with a new confidential information-blocking tool. This new feature allows users to send confidential information to web sites they trust with no interruption, but alerts the user when they send personal data to untrusted sites. Confidential information blocking helps protect users from falling victim to online phishing – a type of scam that attempts to lure internet users into providing confidential personal information to harmful and potentially dangerous web sites, which can result in identity theft.
Because some blended threats are able to attack computer systems in a way that basic firewalls cannot block, Norton Personal Firewall 2005 includes complete inbound and outbound application-based protection along with intrusion prevention technology. Symantec’s robust intrusion prevention technology, another key component of Norton Personal Firewall 2005, provides an important additional layer of security by proactively identifying potential attacks in conjunction with the software’s firewall. This added layer of protection allows Norton Personal Firewall 2005 to carefully inspect the actual content of internet traffic to effectively identify and block attempted online attacks that a basic firewall without intrusion prevention would also not be able to detect.
Comprehensive Email Filtering Solution
As spam continues to proliferate and evolve into more and more of a security threat, Symantec’s newly enhanced Norton AntiSpam 2005 offers improved filtering capabilities to address email users’ most common concerns. Norton AntiSpam 2005 provides additional protection against some forms of email scams by identifying fraudulent URL internet addresses within email messages and filtering those messages with “spoofed” or faked sender addresses. Users are also able to choose to filter sexually explicit spam so that inappropriate content never reaches the in-box, and they can also use Norton AntiSpam 2005’s new language-based filter to block email messages in specific languages.
Norton AntiSpam 2005 also automatically intercepts and analyses email in most POP3 connections and identifies spam as it comes into the user’s in-box. Norton AntiSpam 2005 integrates tightly with the latest versions of Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook Express, Eudora, and now Yahoo! web email, by automatically creating a spam folder and using it to collect all email identified as spam. Norton AntiSpam 2005 will even filter spam from Hotmail and MSN Mail when messages are retrieved through Microsoft Outlook. As a result, users not only begin to save time but they are also protected from any misleading or inappropriate content that might be contained in spam.
Most Complete All-In-One Security and Privacy Protection Suite
Norton Internet Security 2005 provides complete and automatic protection from even the most complex of internet threats by powerfully combining Norton AntiVirus 2005, Norton Personal Firewall 2005 and Norton AntiSpam 2005 into one seamlessly integrated software suite. Norton Internet Security 2005 also includes a new Outbreak Alert feature that provides users with the added benefit of receiving automatic notification when a high-level threat outbreak occurs. Outbreak Alert analyses the security posture of the user’s PC and offers immediate recommendations for tightening protection if necessary. Additionally, Norton Internet Security 2005 features easy-to-use web content filtering to help keep kids and families safe from inappropriate or explicit web content.
Norton Internet Security 2005, as well as Norton AntiVirus 2005, will also be offered in Home Protection Packs providing user licences for up to three PCs. For small office users, Norton AntiVirus 2005, Norton Personal Firewall 2005 and Norton AntiSpam 2005 will also be available for purchase in 5-user and 10-user packs. All of Symantec’s new 2005 consumer and home office internet security products have been engineered for full compatibility with Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2.
Availability
Norton AntiVirus 2005 is scheduled to be available for purchase at various retail locations in early September, NZRRP $119.95. Norton Internet Security 2005 ($169.95), Norton Personal Firewall 2005 ($119.95) and Norton AntiSpam 2005 ($89.95) are scheduled to be available for purchase at various retail locations mid-September. All Symantec consumer security products include a one-year subscription to Symantec’s protection updates.
About Symantec
Symantec is the global leader in information security providing a broad range of software, appliances and services designed to help individuals, small and mid-sized businesses, and large enterprises secure and manage their IT infrastructure. Symantec’s Norton brand of products is the worldwide leader in consumer security and problem-solving solutions. Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Symantec has operations in more than 35 countries. More information is available at http://www.symantec.com.
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FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENT: This press release contains forward-looking statements, including forecasts of future revenue and earnings, expected activities and other financial and business results that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from results expressed or implied by this press release. Such risk factors include, among others: the sustainability of recent growth rates, particularly in consumer products; the anticipation of the growth of certain market segments, particularly enterprise security; the positioning of Symantec’s products in those segments; the competitive environment in the software industry; general market conditions, fluctuations in currency exchange rates, changes to operating systems and product strategy by vendors of operating systems; and whether Symantec can successfully develop new products and the degree to which these gain market acceptance. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements in this press release. Additional information concerning these and other risk factors is contained in the Risk Factors sections of Symantec’s previously filed Form 10-Q for the quarter ended July 4, 2003. Symantec assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this press release except as otherwise required by law.