Symantec has also optimized the product for greater performance, improved technical support and reduced user interruption with the solutions’ supercharged performance enhancements keeping Norton at top of the pack in key benchmarks.

Norton 2008 users now have powerful solutions that effectively guard against new threats and extend protection beyond the PC to wireless home networks and online identities.

* Browser Defender — Defends against drive-by downloads and other new or unknown threats that exploit vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. Revolutionary, zero-day proactive protection against obfuscated code attacks using ActiveX®, JavaScript™, and VBScript that specifically target the browser.

* One-Click Support — Delivers the same convenient access to support options previously available in Norton 360. This all-new approach to support automatically troubleshoots common issues such as connectivity, licensing, and product activation. It also provides direct access to tech support via telephone, free email or free live chat — all from within the main user interface.

* Home Network Feature — Maps connected devices to provide a view of devices on the local network. Monitors the overall security status of other computers with Norton Internet Security 2008 or Norton AntiVirus 2008 installed.

* Performance, Performance, Performance — Building on performance enhancements delivered in the 2007 product line, Symantec has raised the bar and further extended performance gains with significant improvements in key performance measures.

"Our 2008 products bring valuable new protection technologies to block threats before they get a foothold in systems as well as significant performance improvements to make the end-user experience better than ever before," said Philip Hickey, Consumer Product Marketing Manager, Symantec Asia Pacific. "With next-generation security tools and enhanced performance, Norton Internet Security 2008 and Norton AntiVirus 2008 help deliver on Symantec’s promise to provide confidence in a connected world."

Additionally, Norton Antivirus 2008 include the powerful SONAR behavioral detection technology that protects against malicious code before standard virus and spyware detection definitions have been created.

Norton AntiVirus continues to be the gold standard in virus detection garnering 33 consecutive Virus Bulletin 100 awards, an unmatched standard of reliability in the industry.

Norton AntiVirus 2008 is backed by Symantec Security Response, a team of dedicated intrusion experts, security engineers, virus hunters, and global technical support teams that work in tandem to provide extensive coverage for enterprise businesses and consumers. Symantec Security Response provides customers with comprehensive, global, 24x7 Internet security expertise to guard against today’s complex Internet threats. This security information is delivered to our customers on a daily basis to ensure they remain fully protected.

Norton Antivirus is designed for both Windows® XP Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista™ users.