Yahoo and Symantec unveil joint consumer Internet security service

A joint consumer Internet security service has been unveiled by Internet company Yahoo Inc and security solutions company Symantec Corp.

The two companies will offer the Norton Internet Security product from Symantec to Yahoo's customers, while Symantec will gain access to the customers using Yahoo services. The agreement is expected to help the companies compete against competitors such as software company Microsoft Corp and Internet search engine Google Inc.

The co-branded Norton Internet Security product will be marketed by Yahoo and Symantec through the Yahoo network, which incorporates online services such as Yahoo Search, Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Toolbar. Symantec will offer its anti-virus and online firewall protection on Yahoo's Online Protection for broadband users and provide Norton Spyware scan for the Yahoo Toolbar.

Yahoo customers can sign up for a free 30 day trial of Norton Internet Security, which blocks viruses, spam and adware, and then purchase a USD49.99 12 month subscription, which includes a USD20 discount for Yahoo users.