Wow, quite a list of questions. I’ll do my best to answer each of them.

1. Is Norton Antivirus Suite (and other juggernaut security software suites) good for “installing and forgetting”? Answer: I’ve always felt that most security programs give the impression that they do more than they actually do without user intervention. I’ve helped many friends who had installed Norton or McAfee (and many other antivirus programs) and subsequently expressed surprise when they got multiple viruses. The reason is that installing a security program is not enough – you need to actively update and scan in order for it to be effective.

While some Antivirus programs claim to be able to detect viruses “on the fly,” or proactively, programs often don’t detect viruses before they’ve installed because the “active” detection feature is simply not as thorough and capable as manual scans. You also need to ensure that your antivirus program is kept up to date with virus definitions – something that is usually done automatically but can be easily switched off by accident. Which brings me to another point: many antivirus programs (Norton included, in my opinion) train people to click away alerts and warnings without reading them because the warnings come so often and become annoying. So, even if Norton is trying to keep you protected, you can easily bypass its protection out of impatience and frustration (not a slight against you personally – I’ve done the same thing many times). Thus, some of the best antivirus programs are the simplest and least feature packed, because users pay more heed to their warnings and understand that they must take an active role in security.

Also, while most virus scanners do a reasonable job locating and purging viruses, many are lackluster at eliminating spyware and adware. You need anti-spyware and anti-adware programs in addition to your virus scanner. While some security suites have started building anti-spyware and anti-adware features in, they’re often not as good as standalone products that have been around for several years.

2. How can you mitigate threats on the web? Answer: This topic is the meat of this blog, so, for lack of space, I can’t provide a complete answer in the comments section. Here’s my best attempt at a summary: use a secure web browser (I recommend Firefox for reasons discussed here; install a trustworthy antivirus program and anti-spyware program/anti-adware program and update and scan often (once a week when your computer appears healthy, but several times a day after you become infected, until you are confident the infection is gone); and ruthlessly scan (before opening!) documents, programs, and anything else that you download onto your computer from someone else’s computer, from the internet, or from a disk. These measures prevent the vast majority of infections from viruses and spyware.

3. How can you know when you’ve been violated? Answer: you can’t always know. The best viruses and spyware programs won’t alert you to their presence – they’ll happily siphon off your passwords and browsing habits to third parties without your knowing it. However, after a plethora of viruses or spyware programs gain a foothold, your computer will likely slow down and begin behaving strangely (shutting down unexpectedly, throwing pop-ups onto your screen, etc.). Since it’s not always possible to know when you’re infected, scanning often is vital.

4. How do IP addresses work (and do they allow web sites to follow you and target you)? Answer: IP addresses identify your computer while you are surfing the web. Individual web sites you visit have access to your IP information unless you use an IP masking service. However, I think it’s fairly difficult to track your usage across many websites unless all of the website owners get together and share their IP traffic data. In my opinion, cookies and IP tracking are not terribly serious threats. The more serious problem is a spyware application that resides on your computer and monitors every web site you visit and password you type before sending the information to a third party. This is why high quality virus and anti-spyware scanners are so important.

5. Do security programs integrate into any web browser or bypass them completely? Answer: some suites integrate into browsers, mostly Internet Explorer because it’s the most used. I don’t know off-hand of any security suite that bolsters Firefox. Fortunately, Firefox is extremely safe and isn’t especially in need of assistance. Internet Explorer 6, by contrast, was so shoddy that it needed all the help it could get. IE7 is much improved, so if you’re still using IE6 I encourage you to make the upgrade. If you’re considering using Firefox, don’t be dismayed that Norton (or whatever program) doesn’t have an integrated toolbar in the browser – it doesn’t mean that Firefox or your computer will be less secure as a result. If anything, it’s a measure of Firefox’s excellent security (and, of course, lesser market penetration) that security suites don’t feel the need to fix it up.

Hope that helps.

Ian