Symantec Arms Consumers Against PC Hijackers with Norton AntiBot

Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced the release of Norton AntiBot, the industry’s first targeted security solution to combat the growing botnet pandemic. Norton AntiBot is a real-time bot detection and removal solution for consumers. Norton AntiBot monitors PC applications and processes around-the-clock, offering an additional layer of protection that complements existing security solutions to protect PCs from unauthorized access and tampering.

“Consumers need to know that they may be directly implicated in the criminal activities being perpetrated by botnets – if not by having their own identity or personal information stolen, then by being part of a network of zombie PCs carrying out large scale criminal activities like massive spam distribution and phishing email schemes,” said Rowan Trollope, senior vice president, Consumer Products Division, Symantec. “We’re estimating millions upon millions of bot-infected PCs in existence today, with the vast majority of these users having no idea of what’s going on behind the scenes of their own computer. Norton AntiBot is an important new tool for strengthening consumer security and stopping these insidious threats.”

Symantec Security Response is seeing the number of bot-infected computers continue to rise. In Symantec’s latest Internet Security Threat Report (Volume XI, March 2007) Symantec found that during the last six months of 2006, there were more than 6 million active bots which is approximately 30 percent more zombie computers than observed in the previous six-month period.

“Botnets are quickly becoming one of the most pervasive, dangerous, and aggravating classes of malware,” said Rob Enderle Principal Analyst for the Enderle Group. “These networks are increasingly managed by professional criminals using leading technology to steal consumer bandwidth and performance and use it to for tasks ranging from massive amounts of spam to outright identity theft. To mitigate this growing risk all of us should be looking at using defense in depth solutions like Norton AntiBot that include strong protection for these technically advanced bot nets.”

Unlike yesterday’s viruses and worms, today’s bots are stealth and dynamic, secretly installing on systems and turning them into “zombies.” Once installed, bots can execute new commands sent by a bot master on an ongoing basis. If they are not properly removed, they can reinstall themselves, making them particularly difficult to destroy. Norton AntiBot is designed to completely eradicate all traces of any bot or other malware from a system, once it’s identified.

Consumers can reduce their exposure to bot-related attacks by deploying multiple layers of protection technologies, including intrusion prevention, signature-based detection and behavior-based detection. By using complementary technologies, users have the most effective protection against known and unknown forms of malware, including bots.

Norton AntiBot uses active behavior-based heuristic detection system that is always on. This technology constantly analyzes the behavior of files and applications to ensure that otherwise invisible malware is tracked and eradicated as soon as it exhibits harmful behavior. As a result, Norton AntiBot is a complementary solution to existing antivirus or security suites, including Norton AntiVirus, Norton Internet Security, and Norton 360.

Pricing and Availability

Norton AntiBot will be available immediately from the Symantec online store at www.symantecstore.com for an estimated retail price of $29.99USD, which includes a one-year subscription to Symantec’s protection updates.

About Symantec

Symantec is a global leader in infrastructure software, enabling businesses and consumers to have confidence in a connected world. The company helps customers protect their infrastructure, information and interactions by delivering software and services that address risks to security, availability, compliance and performance. Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Symantec has operations in 40 countries. More information is available at www.symantec.com.