* From: tsipple@us.ibm.com (Timothy Sipples)
 * Subject: PR: IBM Joins AntiVirus Forces with Norton
                     IBM AND SYMANTEC TO DELIVER
                     SINGLE FAMILY OF ANTI-VIRUS
                         SOFTWARE PRODUCTS
                    Symantec licenses IBM technology and
                                 patents
                    IBM recommends Norton AntiVirus to
                           customers worldwide
                 Intel First to Incorporate IBM Virus Detection
                    Software in LANDesk* Virus Protect
                                Products
Cupertino, CA - May 19, 1998. IBM and Symantec Corporation announced today
that they would combine forces to deliver a single family of anti-virus
products which will be marketed under the Norton AntiVirus brand name.
Symantec will license IBM's immune system technology and patents and will
combine it with its own technology to produce a range of products,
including new solutions to support IBM platforms. As part of the agreement,
IBM has also assigned its existing anti-virus customer and OEM contracts to
Symantec and will recommend Norton AntiVirus to its corporate customers
worldwide as the anti-virus solution of choice. In addition IBM and
Symantec intend to sell and market the Norton AntiVirus product line
worldwide.
In a related announcement, Intel said today it is incorporating IBM's
anti-virus engine technology into its LANDesk Virus Protect products and
other Intel network management products featuring LANDesk Virus Protect
functionality.
"Combining IBM's technology with Symantec's brand strength and heritage in
the anti-virus sector takes protection against virus infection to a new,
higher level," said Phyllis Byrne, vice president of Distributed Systems
Services for IBM. "We believe Symantec's current anti-virus products are
the best available and will only be strengthened with the addition of our
technology. We are confident in recommending the Norton AntiVirus solution
to our customers."
Symantec president and CEO, Gordon Eubanks, added: "Corporate organizations
already recognize Symantec and the Norton brand as a solution they can
trust to protect against the threat of virus attack. By working with IBM to
further develop their immune system technology and incorporate it into a
comprehensive range of Norton AntiVirus products, we will offer corporate
customers the most comprehensive anti-virus solution available."
Ed Ekstrom, vice president, Intel Small Business and Networking Group and
general manager, Systems Management Division, said: "Combining IBM's
leading anti-virus scanning technology with our anti-virus policy and
management expertise provides our customers the best anti-virus detection,
management and protection technology currently available. We will pursue
the possibility of incorporating the virus detection software resulting
from the IBM/Symantec alliance when it becomes available."
The alliance with Symantec complements IBM's announcement earlier this
month of its eNetwork Software security and directory integration solution,
which provides a comprehensive security solution for extending customers'
information technology infrastructure to the Worldwide Web. The eNetwork
Software security solution leverages IBM's decades of experience with
information security and allows companies with large, complex computer
systems to handle their entire range of security needs through one company.
IBM's anti-virus technology, part of the IBM SecureWay comprehensive
portfolio of security offerings, has been awarded six patents for
inventions, ranging from a neural network that uses artificial intelligence
to detect new viruses automatically to the immune system itself. IBM is the
first company to develop an immune system that can detect previously
unknown viruses, analyze them, and distribute a cure worldwide, all
automatically and within minutes of first discovering new viruses.
Symantec's multi-tier virus protection strategy is the basis for products
that protect the enterprise at the desktop, groupware, server, Internet and
gateway levels. The Norton AntiVirus product line uses innovative
Bloodhound heuristic technology to detect and remove both known and unknown
viruses. Norton AntiVirus also includes LiveUpdate, which automatically
updates users with the latest virus definitions over the Internet.
For more information on this announcement please visit the IBM Antivirus web
site at http://www.av.ibm.com.
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