By Patrick Avenell

SYDNEY, NSW: Symantec and Lenovo have announced a new agreement to distribute the former’s Norton Internet Security products on the latter’s Think-branded PCs. This includes Lenovo ThinkPad laptops, ThinkCentre desktops and ThinkStation workstation.

Symantec regional product manager Asia Pacific, David Hall, told Current.com.au that malware creation has become a fulltime job for identity thieves, and has now surpassed drug trafficking as the world’s biggest illegal industry. He said the creation and deployment of insidious software is now more intelligent and organised than ever, and that the complexities employed by perpetrators are so intense that holistic computer protection is essential.

This new partnership between Lenovo and Symantec was welcomed by both companies.

 “We have had a long and valued partnership with Lenovo and are pleased they have chosen Norton Internet Security as the exclusive security protection for their premier Think brand of PCs for business customers,” said Symantec vice president, global OEM and ISP sales, Hal Bennett. “Lenovo is clearly committed to delivering computers that are exceptionally engineered for performance and security, and in offering their customers our groundbreaking reputation-based security technology, they are taking protection to an unprecedented new level of efficiency and effectiveness.”

“Lenovo and Symantec’s similar focus on providing unparalleled security and performance to business customers, especially the growing small to medium business market, makes Norton Internet Security a valuable addition to our portfolio of services included with our Think PCs,” said Lenovo vice president and general manager, Software, Peripherals and Enterprise Products, Peter Schrady.

 “This security solution complements Lenovo’s full suite of hardware and software based security offerings including ThinkVantage Technologies like Hardware Password Manager for managing full hard drive encryption and Lenovo Lost and Found to help in reuniting lost ThinkPad laptops with their owners.”