Symantec 2011 Annual Report Download - page 132

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
The Board of Directors and Stockholders
Symantec Corporation:
We have audited Symantec Corporation’s (the “Company”) internal control over financial reporting as of
April 1, 2011, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework issued by the Committee
of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Symantec Corporation’s management is
responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the
effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report
on Internal Control over Financial Reporting appearing under Item 9A(b). Our responsibility is to express an
opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
(United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about
whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit
included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material
weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the
assessed risk. Our audit also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the
circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance
regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting
includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail,
accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable
assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made
only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable
assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s
assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect
misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that
controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the
policies or procedures may deteriorate.
In our opinion, Symantec Corporation maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over
financial reporting as of April 1, 2011, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework
issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
Management excluded from its assessment of the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial
reporting as of April 1, 2011, the internal control over financial reporting of the identity and authentication business of
VeriSign, Inc. and subsidiaries (“VeriSign”), which was acquired on August 9, 2010 as discussed in Note 3 of the Notes to
Consolidated Financial Statements. Total net tangible assets subject to VeriSign’s internal control over financial reporting
represented $178 million, and total revenue subject to VeriSign’s internal control over financial reporting represented
$137 million of net revenue. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting of Symantec Corporation and
subsidiaries also excluded an evaluation of the internal control over financial reporting of VeriSign.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
(United States), the consolidated balance sheets of Symantec Corporation and subsidiaries as of April 1, 2011 and
April 2, 2010, and the related consolidated statements of operations, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of
the years in the three-year period ended April 1, 2011, and our report dated May 20, 2011 expressed an unqualified
opinion on those consolidated financial statements.
/s/ KPMG LLP
Mountain View, California
May 20, 2011
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