Symantec, EarthLink Unite To Fight

The new service with the lengthy name,Norton Security Products Brought To You By EarthLink,gives EarthLink customers desktop access to Norton AntiVirus and Norton Personal Firewall products, a Symantec spokesman said. Combined, the two products block virus and hacker attacks on Internet-connected PCs.

Both Cupertino, Calif.-based Symantec and Atlanta-based EarthLink are looking to woo ISPs with the subscription service, the spokesman said.

The subscription program is already enjoying success in Europe, he said.

Breaking from traditional service models, the Symantec-EarthLink subscription offering lets customers install the Norton security tools right on their PC, instead of having them reside on a remote server. Customers taking advantage of the new subscription service will also be privy to Symantec's ongoing virus definition updates and software upgrades.

In addition, subscribers of the service will be able to test the security of their computer via a free Symantec Security Check service available on EarthLink's member home page.

As a bundled package, Norton AntiVirus and Norton Personal Firewall are available to EarthLink customers for $5.95 per month. Subscribed to separately, each tool costs $3.95 per month, according to Symantec.

Customers are billed for the service on their monthly EarthLink invoice.

Symantec and EarthLink are also offering special subscription pricing for small and midsize businesses. Multiple user packs in groups of five or 10 users are available for $14.95 and $24.95, respectively, according to Symantec.

EarthLink customers that sign up for the Symantec subscription offering can download the Norton software products or request a CD be mailed to them.

The Symantec subscription security products complement EarthLink's TotalAccess 2004 software, a suite of tools that includes Spyware Blocker, SpamBlocker and Pop-Up Blocker tools.

"Protection from viruses and hackers is important to our customers, and EarthLink's new subscription service from Symantec makes Internet security a simpler task," said Tom Andrus, vice president of product and services at EarthLink, in a statement.