Symantec declares Chinese compensation offer a success
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(InfoWorld) - Symantec declared itsÂ compensation offerÂ for Chinese users who saw their computers damaged by a bad software update a success Sunday, but declined to say how many users had accepted the deal. Symantec ran into trouble May 18, when the company issued a faulty software update for its Norton antivirus software that wrongly identified two system files in the Simplified Chinese edition of Windows XP as malware, and quarantined them. That blunder rendered an estimated 50,000 Chinese PCs unusable, Symantec said. The incident also provoked an angry outcry from Chinese users, who demanded compensation for the damage wrought on their systems by Symantec. At least two users filed lawsuits against Symantec over damage done to their PCs by the company. Five weeks after the bad update was released, Symantec offered free software to those Chinese users who were affected. The company offered Chinese consumers a 12-month Norton license extension and a copy of Norton Save & Restore 2.0. Corporate customers were offered Symantec Ghost Solution Suite licenses, depending on the number of PCs affected. Symantec did not extend Norton licenses for corporate customers affected by the bad update. The compensation offer, which was valid for two and a half weeks starting from June 27, ended Sunday night. However, the Web site created for users to apply for compensation remained up at the time of writing, on Monday morning. In an e-mail statement sent Sunday, Symantec declared the offer a success, saying the gesture had been "well received." But the company did not offer any information to back up that claim. Symantec's offer was widely criticizedÂ in the Chinese press when it was first announced. "Symantec's response to its Chinese consumers lacks seriousness and sincerity," Alamus, the deputy director of the China Electronic Commerce Association's committee on legal and policy issues, said at that time in a report by China Central Television (CCTV), the country's national TV broadcaster. While Symantec's compensation offer officially ended Sunday, the company is keeping the door open for users who missed the July 15 deadline. "After this date anyone who missed the registration date should contact Symantec Customer Support or email symantec.authorised.support.cn@clts.com and we will give consideration to extending the date for that individual customer," the company said. Â
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Symantec Corp., the world&#39;s largest maker of anti-virus programs for computers, agreed to buy Veritas Software Corp. for $13.5 billion, the biggest software purchase in six years.
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(Source: Symantec)  A Business Value Analysis Study identifies $97 million in business value, from a Symantec Enterprise Vault deployment.  Faced with regulatory compliance and litigation requirements and greater operational efficiencies, a North American financial services organization engaged Procedo for an email archiving and e-discovery solution in 2003 that transformed its business operations.  Learn more in this new white paper.
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Time to rename it 'Symaunteuc?' Symantec should be thankful for a healthy year's worth of publicized data pratfalls an ocean away. International sales rose 21 per cent in its third fiscal quarter, bolstering a strong quarter for the security software firm and a cheery outlook for Q4.â¦
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The company's shares have recovered from legal settlement sticker shock.
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What chance of collecting? Symantec today hit pay dirt, winning $21m damages from the US courts against a counterfeit software ring spanning the US and Asia. Which is nice: in December 2006, the last time Symantec spoke on the matter, the security software firm had pressed for damages of $15m-plus.â¦
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Deal will combine Symantec&#39;s security products with Veritas&#39; storage software, resulting in reach from PCs to data centers.
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Symantec moved a step closer to joining the ranks of the leading broad-based corporate software sellers yesterday as it announced a $12.5bn all-stock agreement to buy storage and data back-up company Veritas.
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With strong international sales and growth in its services business, Symantec reported earnings Wednesday that beat analyst expectations.Excluding charges, revenue at the security and storage company grew 15 percent year over year, to $1.53 billion for the period ended Dec 28. Analysts had been expecting revenue of $1.45 billion, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Financial. Earnings were $0.33 per share, ahead of the analyst estimate of $0.28 per share.Symantec&#39;s international revenue -- which represents more than half of the company&#39;s business -- grew by 21 percent year over year, Symantec said. The Europe, Middle East, and Africa region was the fastest-growing with revenues up 26 percent from the previous year. Revenue in Asia grew by 19 percent, the company said.Service sales totalled just 6 percent of Symantec&#39;s revenue, but they grew by 40 percent from the previous year.The company&#39;s consumer and enterprise security businesses grew by just 8 percent and 9 percent, respectively. Symantec&#39;s data center management group saw sales jump 11 percent over the same period.Symantec raised guidance for its full fiscal year 2008, which ends March 28. It now expects revenue to be in the range of $5.90 billion to $5.94 billion, with earnings per share between $1.24 and $1.26. Analysts had been expecting annual revenue of around $5.79 billion with earnings per share at $1.16, according to Thomson.The company&#39;s shares leapt more than 7 percent on the results in after-hours trading, reaching $16.40 late Wednesday afternoon.
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Server and software maker says it beat targets, but laid off more workers than expected in the first quarter.
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Symantec Corp. , the biggest global security software maker, on Wednesday posted a 48 percent rise in third-quarter profit, driven by strong sales that were aided by a weak dollar.
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Alstom SA, the French engineering company rescued from near bankruptcy, said it won contracts worth 1.36 billion euros ($1.69 billion) to provide China with trains as well as hydroelectric and nuclear power equipment.
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Symantec is fishing for dollars with a new service designed to help companies combat the ongoing epidemic of online identity theft, or &quot;phishing,&quot; scams.
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InfoWorld - Symantec&#39;s attempt to make amends with Chinese users who saw their&#160;computers crippled by its antivirus software&#160;is off to a rocky start, with critics saying the company&#39;s&#160;compensation offer&#160;isn&#39;t good enough.
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(InfoWorld) - More than a month after Symantec Corp. knocked out 50,000 Chinese PCs with a bad software update, the company is ready to offer compensation. But Chinese users eligible for the offer have to act fast; it's only good for a couple of weeks. Symantec's problems in China began on May 18, whenÂ it released a bad software update that caused its Norton antivirus software to wrongly identify two system files in the Simplified Chinese version of Windows XP as malware and quarantine them. That mistake, which Symantec blamed on "an automated process," left tens of thousands of PCs crippled and Internet bulletin boards full of angry posts. Chinese users who lost data because of Symantec's faulty update demanded compensation, and at least two lawsuits were filed against the company. But Symantec was slow to respond, saying earlier this month it was considering requests for compensation. After five weeks, Symantec is ready to make amends. The company is offering affected Chinese consumers a 12-month Norton license extension and a copy of Norton Save & Restore 2.0. Corporate customers are being offered Symantec Ghost Solution Suite licenses, depending on the number of PCs affected. Symantec is not offering to extend Norton licenses for corporate customers affected by the bad update. Symantec described its offer as "a gesture of our goodwill." Chinese users will have to move fast if they want to take Symantec up on the deal. The company is only accepting applications for compensation during a brief window of time: from June 27 to July 15. The company didn't say why the period is so short, but said it was a sufficient span of time. "We are offering more than two weeks for the registration period which we believe is a reasonable period of time for customers to register," said Catriona Turner, a Symantec spokeswoman in Australia, in an e-mail response to questions. "If there are legitimate reasons why a particular customer is unable to register by July 15, we will give consideration to extending the date for that customer." Turner said the terms and conditions of the compensation offer did not require users to forego the right to legal action over damage caused to their systems by Symantec's update. "We hope that our customers will recognize that we are offering this goodwill gesture in recognition of any inconvenience caused by this incident," she said. Users who want to take Symantec up on its offer must apply at a special Web site , which will validate their copies of Norton Antivirus to make sure they are licensed copies and eligible for the offer. "Customers will be asked to complete a series of questions during the validation process to help us ascertain that the customer was genuinely impacted," Turner said. Â
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Symantec Corp. on Thursday announced that is acquiring @stake Inc., perhaps the most well-known security consulting firm in the industry, for an undisclosed sum.
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As a goodwill gesture, Islamabad will compensate the families of two Chinese workers taken hostage in Pakistan, one of whom died in a rescue attempt last week.