What Can Someone Do With My Mac Address
What could someone do if they knew my MAC address?
Assuming someone knows my MAC ddress (someone inside my network or outside), could they exploit it or do some action on my behalf or any action that needs to be considered?
Because I have noticed some people on YouTube hide their MAC address.
techraf9, 03111 gold badges43 silver badges60 bronze badges
asked Jul 19 ’16 at 20:46
0
Your MAC address is your machine’s hardware address. This is mostly only important when an attacker is on the same network as you. At this point an attacker could do deauth attacks or intercept your traffic by posing as the networks router. However if an attacker is on or near your network is is trivial to get your MAC address. You can also change your MAC address as you please. The people trying to hide their MAC address likely do not fully understand networking and erroneously believe it to be a risk.
schroeder♦119k52 gold badges273 silver badges306 bronze badges
answered Jul 19 ’16 at 20:52
MAC addresses aren’t particularly sensitive, and are only available in your local network. The MAC address isn’t available once the traffic leaves your local area network, although if you’re using IPV6 your IP address may be based on the MAC address.
However, sometimes the MAC address is used, and embedded in the meta-data of some versions of Office products. An attacker might be able to identify you as the author of a document if he/she were to know your MAC address. This was true a number of years ago with Microsoft Office. I’m not sure if it’s still the case, or if any other files contain the MAC address as meta-data of the file creator.
answered Jul 19 ’16 at 21:51
Steve SetherSteve Sether21. 4k8 gold badges49 silver badges75 bronze badges
Someone on the same broadcast domain could direct traffic to their machine by announcing their IP address mapped to your MAC address and then forward on the traffic acting as MITM.
Of course, if all your traffic is encrypted, this is somewhat limited, but they still will see meta data e. g. the servers you are communicating with but not the content.
answered Jul 19 ’16 at 21:13
DarraghDarragh1, 0828 silver badges14 bronze badges
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Already in the 1980s it was possible in the WDC-adapter drivers to replace the hardware MAC address with another address. So if I knew your MAC address and I saw that you left the subnet, I could pretend to be you (your computer), run a torrent server, send spam mails, threat mails, start hacking attempts, you name it. And on the next morning, it’s not the milkman who’s knocking on your door.
answered Jul 19 ’16 at 21:14
ott–ott–1281 gold badge1 silver badge9 bronze badges
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Q: Is there any problem if i gave someone my wifi mac address
Jun 8, 2014 4:05 PM in response to Phenom95
In response to Phenom95
Probably not. The MAC address is a unique 12 character string assigned by the manufacturer. Unless your device has been granted access to some secure network based solely on its MAC address… giving it out should not be a problem. It is not common for network security to rely on MAC addresses.
Jun 8, 2014 4:05 PM
Jun 8, 2014 4:43 PM in response to Phenom95
Phenom95 wrote:
Is there any problem if i gave someone my wifi mac address??? Why do you want to do that in the first place?
Jun 8, 2014 4:43 PM
Jun 8, 2014 5:35 PM in response to Phenom95
The MAC (Media Access Control) address is unique for every ethernet or WiFi interface and is assigned when the chip is you send network packets over ethernet or WiFi, your MAC address is included in that message. It will be stripped off of the message at your router, and the body of the message will get a new router MAC address for the next hop. So you are letting other devices in your local network see your MAC address, and when you use your WiFi in a public WiFi hotspot, the MAC address is visible to the hotspot router, and any device also using the hotspot that may be sniffing WiFi traffic at the mentioned by piperspace, some network facilities (think schools, or other places where they only want members of the select group to have access) need to register their MAC address so that the routing equipment will know your device is part of the allowed group of users (this is an alternative to using passwords that may be given out to visiting friends, that the facility does not want). NOTE: There are some Device/OS/Software combinations that allow changing the MAC address that can fool such MAC address checks by pretending to be a registered in a few situations, there is sofware that uses the MAC address as a Software registration key, so that you give the MAC address to the software company and they generate a license key that will only work on the device with that MAC address. Of course if you have your motherboard replaced, or you need to exchange your iOS device for a replacement as part of a warranty repair, or you just decide to upgrade your equipment for newer better device, your MAC address will change and the licensed software locked to your MAC address will not run, requiring you to contact the company and get a new license key, if the company is still in said the MAC address is unique to the device, so in theory it might be used to identify you. But for the most part it does not mean a whole heck of a lot, as you have been broadcasting it everytime you access the network, especially when out in while I would wonder why someone wants your MAC address, if it is for a good reason, then it is most likely not all that big a deal. If it is for a software licence, the software may not be a good deal in the long run, but that is a purchase/tradeoff decision.
Jun 8, 2014 5:35 PM
Jun 8, 2014 7:14 PM in response to BobHarris
In response to BobHarris
BobHarris wrote:
NOTE: There are some Device/OS/Software combinations that allow changing the MAC address that can fool such MAC address checks by pretending to be a registered, spoofing MAC addresses is trivial, and everything necessary to change your MAC address is part of OS X itself. There is at least network protocol that actually depends on setting the MAC address to specific values, too — this capability is something that many network controllers expressly permit, going back to the earliest days of another way, MAC security really isn’t all that secure.
Jun 8, 2014 7:14 PM
Jun 8, 2014 7:43 PM in response to MrHoffman
In response to MrHoffman
MrHoffman wrote:
There is at least network protocol that actually depends on setting the MAC address to specific values, tooBesides DECnet, what other protocols (It is a serious question, as my low level network knownledge is mostly odd bits and pices of knowledge gleamed from running into it like a brick wall, or what I read on the internet). And if it is only DECnet, I’m not sure the Phemom95 with his iPhone 5c cares ).
Jun 8, 2014 7:43 PM
4 Important Things to Know About Wi-Fi Security – Lifewire
Wi-Fi security is critically important, And just because you’re using a wireless access point with encryption, doesn’t mean you’re safe. Hackers want you to believe that you are protected so that you will remain vulnerable to their attacks.
Here are four important things you should know about Wi-Fi security.
WEP Encryption Is Not Effective Protection
WEP, which stands for Wired Equivalent Privacy is easily cracked within minutes and only provides users with a false sense of security. Even a mediocre hacker can defeat WEP-based security in a matter of minutes, making it virtually useless as a protection mechanism.
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Many people set their wireless routers up years ago and have never bothered to change their wireless encryption from WEP to the newer and stronger WPA2 security. Encrypting your wireless network with WPA2 is a reasonably straightforward process. Visit your wireless router manufacturer’s website for instructions.
MAC Filters Are Ineffective and Easily Defeated
Whether it’s a computer, game system, printer, or another device, every piece of IP-based hardware has a unique hard-coded MAC address in its network interface. Many routers allow you to permit or deny network access based on a device’s MAC address.
The wireless router inspects the MAC address of the network device requesting access and compares it to your list of permitted or denied MACs. It sounds like an excellent security mechanism, but the problem is that hackers can “spoof” or forge a fake MAC address that matches an approved one.
All they need to do is use a wireless packet capture program to sniff (eavesdrop) on the wireless traffic and see which MAC addresses are traversing the network. They can then set their MAC address to match one of that is allowed and join the network.
Disabling Your Remote Administration Feature Works
Many wireless routers have a setting that allows you to administer the router via a wireless connection. You can access all of the routers security settings and other features without having to be on a computer that is plugged into the router using an Ethernet cable.
While this is convenient for being able to administer the router remotely, it also provides another point of entry for the hacker to get to your security settings and change them to something a little more hacker-friendly.
Many people never change the default admin password on their wireless router, which makes things even easier for the hacker. We recommend turning the “allow admin via wireless” feature off so only someone with a physical connection to the network can attempt to administer the wireless router settings.
Public Hotspots Are Often Not Secure
Hackers can use tools like Firesheep and AirJack to perform “man-in-the-middle” attacks. They insert themselves into the wireless conversation between the sender and receiver.
Once they have successfully added themselves into the line of communications, they can harvest your account passwords, read your email, view your IMs, etc. They can even use tools such as SSL Strip to obtain passwords for secure websites that you visit.
We recommend using a commercial VPN service provider to protect all of your traffic when you are using wi-fi networks. A secure VPN provides an additional layer of security that is extremely difficult to defeat. You can even connect to a VPN on a smartphone to avoid being in the bull’s eye. Unless the hacker is exceptionally determined, they will most likely move on and try an easier target.
Thanks for letting us know!
Frequently Asked Questions about what can someone do with my mac address
Is it safe to give someone your MAC address?
Probably not. The MAC address is a unique 12 character string assigned by the manufacturer. Unless your device has been granted access to some secure network based solely on its MAC address… giving it out should not be a problem.Jun 8, 2014
Can a hacker do anything with a MAC address?
It sounds like an excellent security mechanism, but the problem is that hackers can “spoof” or forge a fake MAC address that matches an approved one. All they need to do is use a wireless packet capture program to sniff (eavesdrop) on the wireless traffic and see which MAC addresses are traversing the network.Apr 30, 2020
What can you tell from a MAC address?
MAC Address or media access control address is a unique ID assigned to network interface cards (NICs). It is also known as a physical or hardware address. It identifies the hardware manufacturer and is used for network communication between devices in a network segment.
