rperkin;266862 Wrote: 
> Indeed. But it should also be remembered that MAC address filtering
> provides *no* useful security whatsoever. It is worthless. Don't bother
> with it.
> 
> [snip]
> 
> Apologies for the lecture...

I'm well aware of the mechanisms used for the MAC address spoofing.
Just as I'm aware of the other layers within the network stack which
are potential holes as well. It provides an additional hurdle for
anyone else to tackle, and I do not think that it's worthless.

Before the wireless device will even listen to you talking you have to
spoof a MAC address, which means getting hold of a MAC address in the
first place. Depending on the spamminess of your network (and whether
those devices are even turned on) this provides an additional
discouragement. It means that your casual hacker is going to need to go
one level further.

Then once they've got past that, there's WPA2 TKIP to get past. Once
there, they've got to find the services they can access, because being
on the wireless puts them into a different netblock, which is more
restrictive than the wired network - or they have to find the correct
netblock to use for full access.

All layers to prevent access from outside. As with any security, it's
not perfect, but the multiple layers provide additional discouragement.
If there's going to be someone hunting for a system to hack, what are
they going to go for ? Look for the easy options. The easier the
better.

Whether you (or others) view them as no security or not, I still think
that the additional steps necessary make the system less inviting. It's
not a silver bullet, but coupled with other steps you make life harder
for others.

Of course if you want to lecture, ask Logitech to remind all customers
to turn off their MAC filtering because it's worthless, because clearly
if you feel strongly enough to lecture those who are technical enough to
be doing the Jive testing then end users certainly need the benefit of
your experience :-)


-- 
gerph
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