Press Releases

Norton Security stops 99.9 percent of cyberattacks to earn AV-TEST’s top honors

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – February 18, 2016 – Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) today announced that Norton Security won AV-TEST’s coveted “Best Protection Award 2015” for “home user” security. AV-TEST Institute has recognized Norton Security for its ability to stop the most widespread cybercrime threats, including real-time malicious attacks and malware spread via the web and e-mails1.

“Norton Security consistently demonstrated impressive security protection throughout our multiple tests in 2015, and particularly in comparison to competing solutions,” said Andreas Marx, CEO, AV-TEST. “Norton Security blocked 99.9 percent of attacks in Windows testing cycles, whereas the industry average was between 97 and 99 percent. Our rigorous testing resulted in Norton coming out on top as the most secure solution for consumers.”

AV-TEST, globally recognized for its rigorous independent testing practices, evaluates the effectiveness of security solutions’ protection against advanced attacks throughout the year. Based on monthly testing over a twelve-month period, security solutions are subjected to more than 1,000 live zero-day attacks delivered via the web and e-mail to measure a product’s complete protection ability. The testing also measures the security solution’s detection of more than 150,000 current and widespread threats.

Norton Security bested more than 20 competing solutions throughout the entire 2015 testing cycle in both measurement categories. In addition, Symantec Endpoint Protection was honored as the best business protection by AV-TEST. This is the first time a vendor has won both the consumer and business protection categories. Representatives from Symantec accepted the awards at AV-TEST Institute’s annual awards ceremony yesterday in Wolfsburg, Germany.

Cyberattacks Not Slowing

It’s no surprise that with close to one million new malware attacks created each day, a proliferation of ransomware, and a record-setting number of zero-day vulnerabilities open for exploit2 , cyber attackers are not slowing down. In fact, the Norton Cybersecurity Insights Report, a global study of more than 17,000 respondents in 17 countries, identified that 27 percent of consumers globally were impacted by cybercrime in the last year. Cybercriminals are using increasingly sophisticated techniques to steal consumers’ personal information such as passwords, contact information and banking credentials to fill their coffers.

“Norton is on the front lines of cybersecurity and our security experts are constantly innovating to protect our customers from the most advanced attacks,” said Fran Rosch, executive vice president, Norton Business Unit, Symantec. “Our superior protection footprint and intelligence network provides insights into attack methods that fuel our protection engine and keeps us two steps ahead of attackers. AV-TEST’s recognition of Norton Security is testament to our relentless dedication to providing our customers with much-needed security.”

Backed by the one of the world’s largest civilian threat intelligence networks, Norton Security’s anti-malware, firewall, spam and phishing and cloud technology protections help safeguard users’ devices and private information from today’s most aggressive threats. Advanced protection technologies such as Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), Proactive Exploit Protection and behavioral-based protection (SONAR) help defend against the most sophisticated attacks and proactively identify at-risk files and stop zero-day threats without slowing down a machine’s performance.

Norton Security’s powerful protection and performance have been recognized by additional reputable testing labs including PassMark, where Norton achieved the leading performance ranking for eight years straight3, and Dennis technology Labs, which consistently awards Norton the highest AAA protection rating, blocking 99 percent of malicious attacks in their latest testing4.

For more information on our consumer protection solutions, please visit: www.norton.com

About Symantec

Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) is the global leader in cybersecurity. Operating one of the world’s largest cyber intelligence networks, we see more threats, and protect more customers from the next generation of attacks. We help companies, governments and individuals secure their most important data wherever it lives.

Note To Editors:

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1 2015 AV-Test Awards:
https://www.av-test.org/en/award/2015/best-protection-norton-by-symantec/;
AV-Test methodology and procedures:
https://www.av-test.org/en/test-procedures/certification/

2 Symantec Internet Security Threat Report, Volume 20, April 2015:
http://www.symantec.com/security_response/publications/threatreport.jsp

3 PassMark, Consumer Security Products Performance Benchmarks, Ed. 2 commissioned by Symantec,November 2015:
http://www.passmark.com/ftp/Consumer_Security_Products_Performance_Benchmarks_2016_Ed_2.pdf

4 Dennis Technology Labs 2015 Annual Report, October 2015:
http://www.dennistechnologylabs.com/reports/s/a-m/2015/DTL_2015_AR.pdf