SYDNEY, Australia – 30 November 2011 – Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced that as many as 800 million people a day in 2011 viewed its VeriSign trust seals, up 60 percent from 2010 and marking the fifth straight year in which daily seal views have sharply increased. The rise in all VeriSign seals (VeriSign Secured Seals, VeriSign Trust Seals and Norton Secured Seals) helps build site visitor confidence by proving that Symantec has authenticated the identity of the site’s operators and performed daily scans for malware. That confidence is essential for online commerce, particularly during the holiday shopping season.

Consumers continue to demand a cost-effective, efficient and above all, safe online shopping experience. As online commerce becomes the preferred form of shopping for many consumers, these shoppers must be aware of the online scams that are becoming more frequent, sophisticated and damaging. When conducting business online, consumers should always look for a recognised third-party trust mark indicating that the website has undergone rigorous malware scanning and is therefore safe and secure.

Trust seals confer a distinct competitive advantage for organisations, especially during the busiest online shopping period of the year. In February 2011, just after the winter 2010/2011 shopping season, a U.S. Online Consumer Study found that 94 percent of respondents were likely to continue an online purchase when they viewed the Norton Secured Seal during checkout, more than any other seal displayed.

Symantec VeriSign trust seals provide clickable, dynamic, real-time proof that a web site provides a secure connection and protects online transactions involving confidential data. A March 2011 Consumer Research study found that 90 percent of respondents would not continue a transaction if they saw a browser warning page indicating the absence of a secure connection. Moreover, a VeriSign study found that 11 percent of respondents decided not to conduct business with a site because they did not see a VeriSign seal.

VeriSign seal customers also benefit from VeriSign Seal-in-Search, through which participating search engines, partners and security tools display the seal next to a website’s link within search results. VeriSign Seal-in-Search gives VeriSign customers an instant competitive advantage over sites whose search results lack a trust indicator—in 2011, increasing search engine click-through rates on average by 7.7 percent.

As web site owners prepare for the holiday rush, it is essential they take the necessary steps to ensure their customers are visiting a safe and secure site by implementing SSL from a trusted resource. According to the November 2011 Alexa Netcraft Report, more than 50 percent of  the 100,000 most widely visited web sites that utilise SSL encrypted connections, use Symantec SSL to secure their online transactions. Symantec also remains the top issuer of EV SSL Certificates, signing more than 67 percent of all EV SSL certificates worldwide (Netcraft SSL Survey, November 2011). EV SSL certificates provide the highest assurance for all sites requesting sensitive personal or financial information.

Availability

Symantec VeriSign Secured Seals, VeriSign Trust Seals, Norton Secured Seal and Symantec VeriSign Seal-in-Search are available now.

Quotes

“Displaying a VeriSign Trust Seal helps ensure my customers know they’re actually buying from me and that I am serious about keeping their data safe. Those factors improve customers’ confidence and encourage them to spend more with a vendor they trust—me.”
— Reva Colover, CEO, Van’s Gifts

“Malware and cyberattacks can affect any business, including small ones like mine. Displaying a VeriSign Trust Seal reassures customers they don’t have to worry about identity theft or other cybercrime when they visit my website. That translates into more positive word of mouth and better sales, which is especially important during the holiday sales rush.” 
— Josh Neblett, CEO, GreenCupboards.com

“The growth of phishing, spear phishing and other social engineering attacks has made it virtually impossible for anyone – even experts or website owners themselves – to tell a real website from a fake one run by cybercriminals. Symantec VeriSign Trust Seals mitigate that worry by providing real-time, visible proof that a website is genuine and malware free. Trust seals are yet another example of how Symantec helps protect online interactions, information and identities of consumers and website owners of all sizes, during browsing or transactions alike.”
— Fran Rosch, Vice President, Trust Services and Identity Protection, Symantec

Additional Resources

• VeriSign SSL Certificates
• Blog Post: Why Your Certificate Authority Matters
• Blog Post: Symantec’s Top 5 Tips to Defeating the Internet Grinch
• Van’s Gifts
• GreenCupboards.com

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About Symantec
Symantec is a global leader in providing security, storage and systems management solutions to help consumers and organisations secure and manage their information-driven world. Our software and services protect against more risks at more points, more completely and efficiently, enabling confidence wherever information is used or stored. More information is available at www.symantec.com.