If you found that the Internet-connection firewall in Windows XP will not kick in, it's because your Internet service provider has blocked it. But don't lose a lot of sleep over the matter.

This could be because the ISP has its own firewalls in place, and, in any event, the peril is far less for telephone modem users than for folks with high-speed, or broadband, connections via cable modem, digital subscriber line and such.

Broadband links are particularly vulnerable to attack because they are always connected, thereby greatly increasing their availability for hack attacks.

On the other hand, dial-up connections last only for a few minutes or hours, and every time you dial up, you are issued a different Internet protocol address, which is the point aimed at by hackers.

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Related items

• Review: Personal Firewalls for Administrators and Remote Users (13 March 2003)
• Review: Firewalls and Internet Security: Repelling the Wily Hacker 2/e (30 January 2003)