Do products like Norton (etc) protect from viruses? I thought that’s what you pay them to do.
In my opinion, large costly packages like Northon, McAfee, etc. have outlived their usefulness.
Yeah, they can protect against the older viruses and malware. But the vast majority of modern (last 10 years) attacks on personal computers are "human engineering" -- they attack the user first, getting him/her to click on a link or download something.
Malwarebytes and similar lightweight products are a better bet, in my opinion.
The best defense is a high level of human situational awareness. Think before you click.