Symantec Corporation announced a new version of Symantec AntiVirus for Macintosh (SAM). SAM 4.5 now provides effortless up-to-date protection against most viruses inadvertently downloaded from the Internet. SAM can simply and easily be updated with the click of a button using Automatic Update. SAM also continues to provide detection and repair for all known Macintosh viruses including known HyperCard viruses, Trojan Horses, and Word Macro Viruses.

Version 4.5 builds on SAM's existing strengths and answers customer requests for even greater ease-of-use and protection on the Internet. New key benefits include SafeZone Internet protection and the best protection available on the Macintosh from Word macro viruses.

"The Internet has really changed the way people use computers," said Mary Engstrom, general manager of Symantec's AntiVirus Business Unit. "Research shows that customers fear virus infection from the Internet more than any other source. They need to be able to detect viruses instantly on download -- before they can do damage or be inadvertently passed on to a friend or colleague."

SafeZone Internet Protection

Mac users benefit greatly from the wealth of shareware and freeware available online, but by downloading they expose themselves to an ever-growing threat of virus infection. SAM's new SafeZone acts as a "virtual clean-room" so copied or downloaded files can be scanned in isolation and declared "clean" before being used. SafeZone automatically protects the desktop, or any folder the user chooses, from infection by viruses hidden in downloaded files. For the 21 percent* of all Internet users on Macintosh computers, SAM's new SafeZone protection gives instant, automatic protection from most viruses on the Internet. With SafeZone file scanning, users find out effortlessly, on download, whether the file contains a virus.

Automatic Update Means SAM is Always Up-to-Date

SAM provides exclusive, schedulable, one-button access to the latest virus definitions. This simple, click-and-go update feature automatically downloads and installs the latest definition files from Symantec, free of charge. Automatic Update can be scheduled to run automatically, so users do not even have to remember to make the call.

Unparalleled Word Macro Virus Protection

The Word Macro viruses represent the first cross-platform viruses, and are the number one virus threat today. SAM offers the best protection available for Mac users against Word Macro viruses. Recent third-party tests verify that only the Norton family of anti-virus software detects and repairs all ten of the top ten Word Macro viruses. SAM is the only Macintosh anti-virus solution that allows scanning of Microsoft Word and Excel files shared via File Sharing on Open. This greatly decreases the potential for transmission of Macro viruses through Macintosh File Sharing. Users are alerted when shared files or email attachments are infected so the virus can be removed before it can spread across local-area networks (LANs) and wide-area networks (WANs).

Microsoft Office Installer Support

To a computer, software installation often looks like a virus when it writes to the System folder. SAM 4.5 can now more accurately tell the difference between virus activity and software installation. In addition to recognizing many other installers, SAM now recognizes when users are installing Microsoft Office applications, making for faster and simpler installation of new software. This new feature will show a dialog box asking if the user wants to suspend suspicious activity alerts during the current software installation. The user can click the appropriate button to save time and avoid future interruptions during the installation.

Symantec AntiVirus Research Center (SARC)

Symantec's family of anti-virus products are backed by unsurpassed information, technology, and customer service. The Symantec AntiVirus Research Center (SARC) has a dedicated team of 26 men and women whose sole mission is to provide swift, global responses to computer virus threats, proactively research and develop technologies that eliminate such threats and educate the public on safe computing practices. As new computer viruses appear, SARC develops identification and detection for these viruses, and provides either a repair or delete option, thus keeping users protected against the latest virus threats.

Additional virus information and update services include: the Virus Hotline 541-9-VIRUS-9 and downloadable virus definition updates from the Symantec BBS, the Symantec FTP and Web sites on the Internet, CompuServe, America Online and the Microsoft Network. For customers who do not have online access, a quarterly disk-based update subscription service is available for an annual fee of $39.95 plus tax.

Symantec Anti-virus for Macintosh 4.5 is available at an estimated street price of $69.95 with monthly virus definition updates free for download. An upgrade to version 4.5 is available for $29.95 to registered users of Symantec AntiVirus for Macintosh 4.0. Symantec AntiVirus for Macintosh 4.5 requires System 7.0 or higher, Mac or Power Mac OS, and 2 MB RAM (4 MB recommended).

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