I've been getting more involved with networking, etc, and I'm curious as to what all you can do with a MAC address. I've got a Powerbook and a G5, and I'm just trying to find out new things I can do with them (in terms of networking and stuff).
First off, your MAC address is globally unique, no other computer in the world has it. However, you can change it I've been changing my MAC address at school so I can get a new IP address and get around their silly bandwidth restrictions, for example. You can also filter network traffic using the MAC address, one example is using a whitelist on a wireless router to control who can access the router and who cant (though WEP would be better).
Theres nothing really neat that can be done with them, but a somewhat neat trick is to find a friend with a closed WiFi network that uses MAC addresses to decide who can use the network. You can then find out his MAC address (can be done with netBIOS if he uses a Windows box) and change your MAC address to his. You can then access his network which can be useful sometimes, and can also make you look like a 'leet hax0r'.
Theres nothing really neat that can be done with them, but a somewhat neat trick is to find a friend with a closed WiFi network that uses MAC addresses to decide who can use the network. You can then find out his MAC address (can be done with netBIOS if he uses a Windows box) and change your MAC address to his. You can then access his network which can be useful sometimes, and can also make you look like a 'leet hax0r'.
I assume I am using both WEP and MAC address-based access list via AirPort Admin Utility.
I knew you can change your MAC address, but they still need the password to be able to log on, right? I'm aware passwords can be cracked if somewhat tries hard enough.
So what are you supposed to do for maximum protection?
Some people don't wanna bother to use WEP so they just use MAC authentication as a way to control access to their network.
There is really no way to completely secure a wireless network. You could use time-changing WEP keys that change every half-hour or so but that would require special firmware on the wireless router/airport.
Personally I see no reason to use WEP on my airport. I leave it open for anyone to use, but also watch the bandwidth logs and check if someone is using huge amounts of bandwidth. My data is secure, because whenever I send a credit card number or other personal information, it is encrypted anyway with https. I never send sensative information through email, because email is insecure by nature. I know what protocols use cleartext passwords (FTP, telnet, etc) and I don't use those. I just stick to SSH and other secure protocols.
Not very many people are malicious or educated enough to break into my computer. It takes some serious skill to break into a unix OS like Mac OS X. If I had a Windows computer I would be really worried about it because its so easy to break a Windows box, another help exploit came out today that even effects SP2 of XP.
Leaving a network open is a nice thing to do, it's like letting someone into your house for a drink of water. Most people aren't dicks and won't do anything stupid. I let people know mine is open by changing the SSID to "Cassano Open"(Cassano is my last name.) It just seems like a nice thing to do, I know when I drive by someones house and I see an open SSID, I'm thankful for it.
Its too much hassle to secure a network that wouldn't be secure anyway.
Comments
No MAC address no network.
Dobby.
Originally posted by Glitch
Theres nothing really neat that can be done with them, but a somewhat neat trick is to find a friend with a closed WiFi network that uses MAC addresses to decide who can use the network. You can then find out his MAC address (can be done with netBIOS if he uses a Windows box) and change your MAC address to his. You can then access his network which can be useful sometimes, and can also make you look like a 'leet hax0r'.
I assume I am using both WEP and MAC address-based access list via AirPort Admin Utility.
I knew you can change your MAC address, but they still need the password to be able to log on, right? I'm aware passwords can be cracked if somewhat tries hard enough.
So what are you supposed to do for maximum protection?
There is really no way to completely secure a wireless network. You could use time-changing WEP keys that change every half-hour or so but that would require special firmware on the wireless router/airport.
Personally I see no reason to use WEP on my airport. I leave it open for anyone to use, but also watch the bandwidth logs and check if someone is using huge amounts of bandwidth. My data is secure, because whenever I send a credit card number or other personal information, it is encrypted anyway with https. I never send sensative information through email, because email is insecure by nature. I know what protocols use cleartext passwords (FTP, telnet, etc) and I don't use those. I just stick to SSH and other secure protocols.
Not very many people are malicious or educated enough to break into my computer. It takes some serious skill to break into a unix OS like Mac OS X. If I had a Windows computer I would be really worried about it because its so easy to break a Windows box, another help exploit came out today that even effects SP2 of XP.
Leaving a network open is a nice thing to do, it's like letting someone into your house for a drink of water. Most people aren't dicks and won't do anything stupid. I let people know mine is open by changing the SSID to "Cassano Open"(Cassano is my last name.) It just seems like a nice thing to do, I know when I drive by someones house and I see an open SSID, I'm thankful for it.
Its too much hassle to secure a network that wouldn't be secure anyway.
I have two computers connected to the 'net in my home. I found that by using nmap from my linux box,
I can obtain the MAC address of the Windoze machine, using a protocol scan