A lot goes on behind the scenes when a computer attempts to connect to a wireless hot spot. You can use your PC every day without knowing -- or needing to know -- its media access control address, but your router checks it every time you sign on to your network. You can utilize this function of your router to strengthen your network's security.
Basics
The MAC address is a very important string of characters that your computer depends upon in order to be networked. MAC stands for Media Access Control and represents the true address of a machine on a LAN. The MAC address of an ethernet device is a 6-byte number that is expressed as a 12 digit.
A MAC address is also referred to as a hardware address or a physical address. The address consists of 12 characters, or hexadecimal digits. Unlike the decimal numerical system you use in everyday life, the hexadecimal system consists of 16 digits: the numerals 0 through 9 and the letters A through F. For example, '00:11:22:AA:BB:CC' (without quotes) is an example of what a MAC address might look like. The first three groups of digits identify the manufacturer; the last three groups of digits represent a serial number. To find your MAC address, press 'Windows-W' and search for 'connections.' Then click 'View Network Connections' and double-click 'Wi-Fi.' From there, you can click the 'Details' button and find the information listed in the Physical Address field.
Purpose
A computer needs an Internet Protocol address to communicate with other PCs on the Internet. A router assigns IP addresses to computers on a network. Like a MAC address, an IP address is unique to a PC; it's used to locate and identify a device on the network. If two devices sharing the same MAC address tried to connect to the router, however, the router wouldn't know that the connection requests were coming from two different computers. Depending on how the network is configured, it might assign an IP address to one device and then refuse the connection from the other.
Authentication
Sniffing Tools Free Download
Most routers enable administrators to block or allow clients on the network using a feature called MAC address authentication, or MAC address filtering. In enterprise environments, information technology staff enter into the filter the physical addresses of all office workstations allowed to access the network. This process helps to protect the network and its connected clients by blocking out unauthorized users. When a computer attempts to connect to the network, the router authenticates the device's MAC address. That means the router uses the MAC address to identify the computer; if the address is allowed through the filter, the router then authorizes the computer to establish a connection with the network. Consumers can also use authentication to protect their networks; MAC filtering is especially important if you do banking or access other confidential information from your PC.
Workarounds
Hackers can clone, or spoof, MAC addresses to get around the filter. Attackers can use sniffing software to find legitimate addresses and then use the Windows Registry or third-party tool to change their network cards to match an available identifier. Once the hacker has configured his computer to use a viable address, he can sign on to the target hot spot and potentially spy on data sent over the network.
Video of the Day
- Thomas Northcut/Photodisc/Getty Images
More Articles
Mac Address Spoofing Tool For Windows 10
The MAC address is a very important string of characters that your computer depends upon in order to be networked. MAC stands for Media Access Control and represents the true address of a machine on a LAN. The MAC address of an ethernet device is a 6-byte number that is expressed as a 12 digit hexadecimal number such as:
00:30:1b:81:d3:f7
Most people only think in terms of IP addresses assigned to a computer. With the help of the Arp command, IP addresses are translated to MAC addresses which, in turn, allow the machine to speak to the network. Your MAC address is set by the manufacturer. In this article I am going to show you a very handy GTK tool that allows you to change that MAC address.
Why change?
There are reasons why you would want to change a MAC address on a machine. Some of the reasons are:
- Get past a MAC filtering device.
- Sniffing connections on a network.
- Obfuscate the manufacturer-created MAC address.
Many reasons people change MAC addresses are less-than-friendly. I am, in no way, advocating such acts. I only show this tool for those reasons that are, as we say, 'above board'. For example. I have, only rarely, seen an instance where somehow the MAC address of a built-in network card was the same as the MAC address of a router. Because of this that machine was unable to get online. There were two ways around this: Purchase a new NIC or change the MAC address of the built-in NIC. For the latter reason, I took advantage of MACchanger-GTK.
Installation
Installation is simple:
- Open up your Add/Remove Software utility.
- Search for 'macchanger' (no quotes).
- Select MACchanger-GTK for installation (this will pick up any requirements necessary).
- Click Apply to install.
That's it. You are ready to use MACchanger-GTK.
Usage
Using this tool is simple. But you will not find a menu entry for MACchanger-GTK. Instead you have to start it from either the command line (with the command macchanger-gtk) or by hitting <Alt>F2 and then entering macchanger-gtk. Once open you will see a very simple interface (see Figure 1) ready to change your MAC address. To do this follow these steps:
Snipping Tool
1. Select your Network Interface from the drop down.
2. Click See current MAC (this will display your address in a new window).
3. Click the Known vendor button. If your NIC is detected with enough information you can then change the address to another address of the same manufacturer. If not, your best bet is to go with Random.
4. From the Options drop down select one of the methods for changing your address.
5. Click Change MAC.
Sniffing Tool Windows 10
That will change the MAC address of your network interface card. Once changed you can then click the Quit button to dismiss the MACchanger-Gtk window.
Final thoughts
I can't stress enough that this tool should only be used for legitimate, legal reasons. Do not attempt to use MACchanger-GTK for any purpose that would land you in trouble. And, should you do so, Ghacks or the author is not, in any way, responsible for your actions.
Mac Address Spoofing Tool For Windows 7
Sniffing Tool Download
On those occasions that you do need to change a MAC address (for the right reasons) it's good to know you have a simple GUI tool in Linux to do the job.