Symantec

Symantec Corp., the maker of the popular software utilities Norton AntiVirus and Norton Utilities, said Thursday that it agreed to buy rival Quarterdeck Corp. for about $65 million, including the assumption of debt. Under the deal announced after the market closed, Cupertino-based Symantec would offer 52 cents for each Quarterdeck share. The deal has been approved by the boards of both companies, but is still subject to the tender of a majority of Quarterdeck's shares.

Internet security technology provider Symantec Corp. has purchased 9 acres in Fox Hills, where it plans to build a research and development campus with an ocean view. The new Symantec offices would be about 2 miles from the planned Electronic Arts Inc. production studio in Playa Vista, where the computer game maker would pamper its 300 employees with such perks as beach volleyball, valet parking and jogging trails.

Symantec Corp., a maker of software that detects computer bugs, rose 14% after the company allayed concern that it would miss fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue estimates. Symantec shares rose $3.19 to close at $25/50 in Nasdaq trading. The Cupertino-based company said it will earn 40 cents a share before charges, in line with analyst estimates of 41 cents.

In the world of computer software, Symantec Corp. is this year's Cinderella. "A sexy stock in an unglamorous niche," Investor's Daily aptly describes the Cupertino-based firm. Symantec's attractions are reflected in its dazzling leap to No. 4 on this year's Times list of 100 California companies with the sharpest sales growth. Symantec's sales grew an enchanting 127.2%. The company didn't even make the chart a year ago.

Top Internet security firm Symantec Corp. said Thursday that it would buy data storage company Veritas Software Corp. for $13.5 billion, the second-highest price ever paid for a software maker. The friendly, all-stock deal would create the world's fifth-largest software company. Another deal announced this week, the hard-fought acquisition by Oracle Corp. of PeopleSoft Inc., would establish a new No. 3 behind Microsoft Corp. and IBM Corp.

Four high-technology firms have asked the Justice Department not to prevent or postpone the release of Windows 95, Microsoft Corp.'s long-awaited new operating system software that is scheduled for shipment Aug. 24. In separate letters to Assistant Atty. Gen. Anne K. Bingaman, software developers Symantec Corp., a Cupertino, Calif., maker of utility software, and Corel Corp.

John W. Thompson, the outgoing chief executive of network security firm Symantec Corp., has emerged as a leading contender to be Commerce secretary, a move that would give the high-tech industry a major voice in the Obama administration. Over the last decade, Thompson led the Cupertino, Calif.-based company from a small software maker to the top provider of antivirus and security programs, known for its Norton brand of products.

BEIJING - For a 25-year-old computer whiz enlisted in a People's Liberation Army hacking unit, life was all about low pay, drudgery and social isolation. Nothing at all like the unkempt hackers of popular imagination, the young man wore a military uniform at work in Shanghai. He lived in a dorm where meals often consisted of instant ramen noodles. The workday ran from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., although hackers were often required to work late into the evening. With no money and little free time, he found solace on the Internet.