I've had pretty good luck with Norton's, but take that with a grain of salt, since I'm using a 2004 version. Newer versions incorporate more security systems, and I have heard that people have problems with e-mail scanning slowing systems down when used with other firewalls.

What has been happening over the years is that security software companies have all been expanding their capabilities, and have started fighting over territory that used to be the exclusive stomping ground of other programs. Lately, this fighting has been occurring inside computers. Even Microsoft is getting into the game.

So, you do need something that deals with viruses and hacking attacks, but although I use three different programs for this, my gut instinct now is that one integrated package from one company that does it all might be more reliable.

Norton 360 is probably a reasonable solution, but check it out more carefully yourself, since I'm not using it myself. Note some of the caveats listed in that review.

A LOT depends on the security of the internet access itself. How secure is the school's system? A lot of wireless "hotspots" are not encrypted at all.