Symantec's Thompson eyed for U.S. Commerce-source

WASHINGTON Jan 15 (Reuters) - Software company president John Thompson is one of two candidates under consideration to be U.S. commerce secretary, the last vacancy in President-elect Barack Obama's prospective cabinet, a source familiar with the Obama transition team's deliberations said.

Thompson is chairman and chief executive office of Symantec Corp (SYMC.O), the No. 1 software security company best known to consumers for its Norton product line.

Symantec spokesman Chris Payden said he knew only that Thompson has had talks with the Obama transition team, not whether he was under consideration for any government post.

"I don't have any information to share," Payden said, adding that Thompson has always insisted on keeping his political activities separate from company business. He did say, however, that Thompson was in Washington late last week. (Reporting by Patrick Rucker, Doug Palmer and Jim Finkle; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)