Symantec buying VeriSign's Web-security arm

SAN FRANCISCO: Symantec is paying $1.28 billion to buy a division of VeriSign that sells security technology to Web sites.

The deal represents the most aggressive move yet by VeriSign Inc. to slim down to concentrate on its core business. That core business is managing traffic to Web sites with ``.com'' and ``.net'' domain names, and collecting fees when new sites with those domains are registered.