Symantec confirms theft of some of its source code

Security specialist Symantec said some of its source code has been stolen by hackers and exposed, but said it was unsure if the security breech would impact "the functionality or security of Symantec's solutions."

Code for the company's Norton anti-virus software wasn't compromised, the company said, but two older products, Endpoint Protection 11.0 and Symantec Anti-Virus 10.2, were affected.

The company said the code was stolen from a third-party, not from its own network.

Industry experts said that because the code was from older products, "it is likely it has evolved quite a bit."

"That said, if there are any core functions that have not evolved, then hackers could take a look at Symantec's source code and find ways to manipulate it," added Robert Rachwald, director of security strategy at Imperva, an Internet security company.

Symantic's Endpoint Protection is four years old, the company said. It's designed to keep outbound data from being leaked. It has undergone regular updating. Symantec Anti-virus 10.2 was five years old and has been discontinued, although it's still supported by the company.

For more:
- see this New York Times article

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