"Achieving FIPS 140-2 validation and Common Criteria certification reinforces Symantec's commitment to delivering trusted and proven security solutions for our customers,' said John Bordwine, chief technology officer of Symantec's Public Sector organization. "These certifications provide federal agencies with assurance that Symantec Messaging Gateway can be deployed with confidence in even the most demanding environments."

FIPS 140-2 - issued by the Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP), a joint effort of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC) - is a requirement for cryptographic modules used by federal agencies in both the U.S. and Canada for the protection of sensitive information. Testing of cryptographic modules is done by independent, accredited Cryptographic and Security Testing (CST) laboratories with NIST and CSEC jointly validating the test results and issuing certificates. FIPS-validated solutions are considered the benchmark for security within government departments and agencies, providing the highest level of protection for sensitive information, and complying with strict government security regulations.

Common Criteria certification - an international evaluation standard for IT security products - is a rigorous independent testing process of specification, implementation and evaluation, and conforms to standards sanctioned by the International Standards Organization (ISO/IEC 15408). The certification is mandated for all IT solutions purchased by the U.S. federal government and is recognized by over 20 countries around the world including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and Australia. Solutions that receive Common Criteria certification are considered to exhibit high levels of security, minimizing risk for the organizations that use them.

Symantec Messaging Gateway delivers inbound and outbound messaging surety with effective and accurate real-time anti-spam and antivirus protection, advanced content filtering, data loss prevention and email encryption. Symantec Messaging Gateway catches more than 99 percent of spam with less than one in a million false positives. It allows organizations to effectively respond to new messaging threats and minimize network disruption - preserving employee productivity, and protecting company reputation.

Symantec Corporation Worldwide Public Sector Enablement Program is committed to providing IT security products that provide significant value to private and public sector customers. As part of that program, Symantec is continuously improving its internal development efforts and business processes to ensure that it meets and/or exceeds requirements from Common Criteria, Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS), CEGS/CAPS, VPAT/Section 508, Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG), Security Content Automation Program (SCAP), FISMA Accreditation, Federal Service for Technical and Export Control (FSTEK of Russia), and other local, state, government, and worldwide requirements.

About Symantec

Symantec protects the world's information, and is a global leader in security, backup and availability solutions. Our innovative products and services protect people and information in any environment - from the smallest mobile device, to the enterprise data center, to cloud-based systems. Our world-renowned expertise in protecting data, identities and interactions gives our customers confidence in a connected world. More information is available at www.symantec.com or by connecting with Symantec at: go.symantec.com/socialmedia.

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