USDA selects Symantec for agency-wide protection.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has purchased a software license permitting the deployment of Symantec AntiVirus Enterprise Edition across the federal agency's desktops and servers to defend against malicious code and cyber attacks. The license was purchased through CDW-G, a leading provider of technology to government and educational institutions.

Government agencies face ongoing security risks from viruses, worms and sophisticated blended threats, such as Code Red, Nimda and Klez, that target network vulnerabilities, rapidly infect via multiple means, compromise data and co-opt networks during coordinated cyber attacks. Symantec's antivirus technology gives USDA strong safeguards against malicious incidents that could adversely impact the agency's ability to execute its regulatory, research and commerce development missions.

Established in 1862, USDA oversees 192 million acres of national forests and rangelands, ensures the quality of consumers' meat, egg and poultry products and conducts pioneering research in agricultural sciences. USDA includes, among other agencies, the Forest Service (FS), Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Farm Service Agency (FSA).

Under the terms of a five-year blanket purchase agreement through CDW-G; which includes one base year and four one-year options, Symantec AntiVirus will protect up to 114,000 USDA servers and desktops agency-wide. In support of USDA's purchase, Symantec personnel will provide USDA with proactive technical support and 24x7 live telephone support from dedicated security experts. In addition, the Symantec Security Response team will send alerts to USDA, via pager, e-mail, phone, or fax, regarding the latest threats so that immediate agency action can be taken.

"Given the size of USDA's networks and the agency's diverse range of offices, superior technology, scalability and reliability are key criteria for selecting their security solutions," said Vincent Steckler, vice president, public sector at Symantec. "Symantec's partnership with USDA safeguards both the agency's IT assets and the interests of citizens benefiting from USDA's efforts in food safety, scientific research and trade promotion."

Symantec AntiVirus Enterprise Edition is a multi-tiered solution that delivers enterprise-strength protection at the gateway, e-mail servers, network servers and workstations. The product provides Symantec's industry-leading, high-performance antivirus technologies as a single, comprehensive solution for USDA users. It combines award-winning technologies and Symantec's global response infrastructure to provide superior protection at every network tier.

Symantec's antivirus solutions are key elements of Symantec Enterprise Security, which provides any size organization with the technology, global response and services necessary to manage its information security. Symantec's comprehensive solutions offer best-of-breed products to protect gateways, e-mails servers, file servers, and clients with firewall security, virtual private networking (VPN), intrusion detection, vulnerability management and virus protection. Customers benefit from Symantec's global network of researchers that provide customers with around-the-clock, immediate response to any new security-related attacks. Symantec Enterprise Security customers are also supported by one of the largest professional security organizations in the world, offering security consulting, security education and managed security services.

Symantec provides a broad range of content and network security software and appliance solutions to individuals, enterprises and service providers. The company is a provider of client, gateway and server security solutions for virus protection, firewall and virtual private network, vulnerability management, intrusion detection, Internet content and e-mail filtering, remote management technologies and security services to enterprises and service providers around the world.