Symantec

Anti-virus giant Symantec says it did not know back in 2006 that source code for its software was stolen when it experienced a breach at that time.

Symantec has advised customers to stop using one of its products, pcAnywhere, advising that the remote access software carries increased securiy risk after its blueprints were recently stolen.

The IT security vendor last week confirmed that a 2006 theft of its product source codes put customers at risk of an attack. Several other products including Norton Antivirus Corporate Edition, Norton Internet Security, Norton Utilities and Norton GoBack also had its blueprints stolen.

Symantec today backed away from earlier statements regarding the theft of source code of some of its flagship security products, now admitting that its own network was compromised.

In a statement provided to the Reuters news service, the security software giant acknowledged that hackers had broken into its network when they stole source code of some of the company's software.

A group of Indian hackers has offered support to an American man who filed a lawsuit against Symantec Corp by publishing source code from a 2006 version of Norton Utilities, a software program at the heart of the legal dispute.

A spokesman for the group, which is known as "Lords of Dharmaraja," released more than 13,000 files that were part of the product's source code late on Friday. "Pass it on to forensics and win the lawsuit," YamaTough said via Twitter.

Symantec confirmed late Thursday that hackers compromised some source code relating to two discontinued enterprise security products.

The code belonged to Endpoint Protection 11.0 and Antivirus 10.2, which are four and five years old, respectively. Symantec's consumer security line, Norton, was not affected.

Hackers have posted a file online that they claim is a confidential glimpse into Symantec’s Norton Antivirus program and have threatened to release source code for the security giant’s flagship antivirus product.

Huawei plans to buy out Symantec's 49 percent stake in a joint venture between the companies that provides security solutions for corporations for $US530 million.

The agreement is subject to regulatory approval, but analysts and company executives foresee few hurdles as the joint venture is based in Hong Kong. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2012, Huawei said in a statement on Tuesday.

At least 48 chemical and defence companies were victims of a coordinated cyberattack that has been traced to a man in China, according to a new report from security firm Symantec Corp.

Computers belonging to these companies were infected with malicious software known as 'PoisonIvy', which was used to steal information such as design documents, formulas and details on manufacturing processes, Symantec said on Monday.