I recall quite a few posters wondering about the meaning of the Silent Mode icon:

The icon has been described in several threads as "strange" or "different", as "eyebrows" or like it is "being peeled"; and just this evening, someone asked about the icon's identity in the German Norton Forums, observing that it resembled a spider. In one case, a user was wondering if they had a virus when the normal Norton icon changed to the Silent Mode one. Briefly, it looks like the Silent Mode icon is a bit mysterious; maybe it could be changed into, for instance, a speech bubble saying "Silent Mode on" or "Silent Mode activated"? Or/and perhaps a list of all Norton system tray icons could be included in the Norton Help Center.
I recall quite a few posters wondering about the meaning of the Silent Mode icon:

The icon has been described in several threads as "strange" or "different", as "eyebrows" or like it is "being peeled"; and just this evening, someone asked about the icon's identity in the German Norton Forums, observing that it resembled a spider. In one case, a user was wondering if they had a virus when the normal Norton icon changed to the Silent Mode one. Briefly, it looks like the Silent Mode icon is a bit mysterious; maybe it could be changed into, for instance, a speech bubble saying "Silent Mode on" or "Silent Mode activated"? Or/and perhaps a list of all Norton system tray icons could be included in the Norton Help Center.
Agree, the icon should be changed to something which looks good and describes the function/status behind it.
Hi Symantec:
I feel that it's time to finally address this thread! 
Please insert a picture of this Icon in the NIS 2012 Support Page for Silent Mode.
Also, When I "mouse over" the icon in my Systray, it just says "Norton Internet Security."
Why not "Silent Mode Is Enabled" as a better description?
Helping you to make a better product,
Atomic Blast :)