Symantec 2016 Annual Report Download - page 110

intentionally or unintentionally, subject us to information security risks and incidents. Our business could be
subject to significant disruption, and we could suffer monetary and other losses and reputational harm, in the
event of such incidents.
Some of our products contain “open source” software, and any failure to comply with the terms of one or
more of these open source licenses could negatively affect our business.
Certain of our products are distributed with software licensed by its authors or other third parties under so-called
“open source” licenses, which may include, by way of example, the GNU General Public License, GNU Lesser
General Public License, the Mozilla Public License, the BSD License, and the Apache License. Some of these
licenses contain requirements that we make available source code for modifications or derivative works we
create based upon the open source software, and that we license such modifications or derivative works under the
terms of a particular open source license or other license granting third parties certain rights of further use. By the
terms of certain open source licenses, we could be required to release the source code of our proprietary software
if we combine our proprietary software with open source software in a certain manner. In addition to risks related
to license requirements, usage of open source software can lead to greater risks than use of third party
commercial software, as open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or controls on origin of the
software. We have established processes to help alleviate these risks, including a review process for screening
requests from our development organizations for the use of open source, but we cannot be sure that all open
source is submitted for approval prior to use in our products. In addition, many of the risks associated with usage
of open source cannot be eliminated, and could, if not properly addressed, negatively affect our business.
If we are unable to adequately address increased customer demands on our technical support services, our
relationships with our customers and our financial results may be adversely affected.
We offer technical support services with many of our products. We may be unable to respond quickly enough to
accommodate short-term increases in customer demand for support services. We also may be unable to modify
the format of our support services to compete with changes in support services provided by competitors or
successfully integrate support for our customers. Further customer demand for these services, without
corresponding revenues, could increase costs and adversely affect our operating results.
We have outsourced a substantial portion of our worldwide consumer support functions to third party service
providers. If these companies experience financial difficulties, do not maintain sufficiently skilled workers and
resources to satisfy our contracts, or otherwise fail to perform at a sufficient level under these contracts, the level
of support services to our customers may be significantly disrupted, which could materially harm our
relationships with these customers.
If we are unable to attract and retain qualified employees, lose key personnel, fail to integrate replacement
personnel successfully, or fail to manage our employee base effectively, we may be unable to develop new and
enhanced products and services, effectively manage or expand our business, or increase our revenues.
Our future success depends upon our ability to recruit and retain key management, technical, sales, marketing,
finance and other personnel. Our officers and other key personnel are employees-at-will, and we cannot assure
you that we will be able to retain them. Competition for people with the specific skills that we require is
significant, and we face difficulties in attracting, retaining and motivating employees as a result. In connection
with the divestiture of Veritas, we experienced employee attrition and related difficulties and these difficulties
may continue or increase with the divestiture of Veritas now complete. In order to attract and retain personnel in
a competitive marketplace, we believe that we must provide a competitive compensation package, including cash
and equity-based compensation. The volatility in our stock price may from time to time adversely affect our
ability to recruit or retain employees. In addition, we may be unable to obtain required stockholder approvals of
future increases in the number of shares available for issuance under our equity compensation plans, and
accounting rules require us to treat the issuance of equity-based compensation as compensation expense. As a
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