Symantec To Deliver Scalable Vulnerability Remediation And Patch Management Solution

CUPERTINO, Calif. – May 2, 2005 – Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC), the global leader in information security has announced Symantec LiveState Patch Manager, a scalable vulnerability remediation and patch management solution for medium-sized organizations and enterprise environments. Symantec LiveState Patch Manager provides IT administrators with the tools needed to increase IT efficiency by automatically and accurately executing an organization’s patch management process. The solution helps ensure client resilience by proactively scanning and patching an organization’s systems to reduce exposure to vulnerability exploits and downtime.

Symantec LiveState Patch Manager is a modular, agent-based patch management solution, which can be deployed alone or as part of an organization’s broader security and configuration management implementation. By integrating Symantec LiveState Patch Manager into an existing environment, organizations can take advantage of benefits such as reduced network traffic and secure transmission of patch management data. Symantec LiveState Patch Manager provides vulnerability remediation by scanning for and identifying installed, missing and available Microsoft security patches. Appropriate patches can then be packaged and deployed over most connections, including LAN, WAN, cellular, satellite and dial-up, for rapid remediation of vulnerabilities. Symantec LiveState Patch Manager helps organizations comply with internal and external audit and reporting requirements by providing detailed reports on patch management activities.

“With the number of vulnerabilities on the increase and exploits spreading faster than ever, organizations are painfully aware of the potential business impact of not taking a proactive approach to patch management. Because of the many dependencies, patch management is best addressed as part of a broader security and configuration management implementation,” said Thom Bailey, director of product management, enterprise administration, Symantec Corporation. “Symantec LiveState Patch Manager addresses a critical need by providing a scalable and extensible solution that can be deployed alone or as part of an existing, broader implementation. By combining built-in discovery, scanning, packaging, deployment and reporting capabilities, Symantec LiveState Patch Manager helps organizations take a proactive, automated approach to ensuring their systems are secure, available and compliant with corporate standards.”

Symantec LiveState Patch Manager is based on the Symantec LiveState architecture, a single unified platform for Symantec’s client and server management and recovery solutions. The LiveState platform is designed to reduce complexity and make it easier for organizations to deploy additional LiveState applications in the future by leveraging a common console look-and-feel, management database and automated agent deployment infrastructure. Symantec LiveState Patch Manager shares a common database and is interoperable with Symantec LiveState Delivery, Symantec’s open and scalable software delivery and configuration management solution, providing IT administrators with even more scalability.

In addition, Symantec LiveState Patch Manager offers the following features and benefits:

· Dynamic Grouping and Targeting Capabilities – Offers more flexibility in identifying target systems for patch deployment by allowing IT administrators to discover systems, dynamically group them and add them to the Symantec LiveState Patch Manager console based on network, domain, IP range or host name

· Built-in Discovery of Computers – Discovers new computers introduced into the environment and centrally deploys the LiveState agent to help ensure all systems are protected

· Intelligent Agent Technology – Provides capabilities designed to minimize bandwidth consumption, including:

– Dynamic Bandwidth Throttling – Dynamically detects network load and adjusts usage to optimize bandwidth utilization

– File- and Byte-Level Differencing – Deploys only changed files or bytes to target systems

– Checkpoint Restart – Copies only remaining bytes if the connection is interrupted during transmission

· Secure Transmission of Patch Management Data – Utilizes protocols such as HTTPS for secure, centralized console-to-server and server-to-agent communication

· Flexible Scheduling Options – Allows IT administrators to schedule patch scanning and deployment, i.e. for execution during off-hours

· Built-in Reporting Options – Includes a wide variety of built-in reporting options to help organizations comply with internal and external audit and reporting requirements

In addition to the standalone version, Symantec LiveState Patch Manager is available as a component of the Symantec LiveState Client Management Suite, a comprehensive configuration and lifecycle management solution for client devices in highly distributed, heterogeneous enterprise environments. For information on the Symantec LiveState Client Management Suite and other modular Symantec LiveState solutions, visit http://sea.symantec.com.

Availability
Symantec LiveState Patch Manager is currently available through Symantec’s worldwide network of distributors and resellers. To obtain licensing information or to locate a reseller, visit http://enterprisesecurity.symantec.com/license/ on the World Wide Web. For additional information on Symantec’s products and services, call (800) 745-6054 or visit http://www.symantec.com.

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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