You’ve been asked to configure a wireless access point for use on the company network. As part of your overall security policy, you’ve been asked to enable MAC filtering as part of the configuration. What is MAC filtering?
A) Access to the wireless network is filtered on the hardware address of a workstation
B) The Service Set Identifier (SSID) is filtered from the visible wireless network traffic
C) Automatic IP addressing is filtered and removed from the access point services
D) The default username and password is filtered to restrict remote access to the wireless access point
The answer: A) Access to the wireless network is filtered on the hardware address of a workstation
The Media Access Control address (MAC) is the hardware address of a network card. With MAC filtering, a set of MAC addresses is manually configured in the access point, and only those MAC addresses are allowed access to the wireless network. MAC addresses are easy to spoof, so most security policies include other security techniques along with MAC filtering.
The incorrect answers:
B) The Service Set Identifier (SSID) is filtered from the visible wireless network traffic
Disabling the broadcasting of the wireless SSID is a good best-practice, but it’s not a method of MAC filtering.
C) Automatic IP addressing is filtered and removed from the access point services
The ability to automatically get an IP address on a wireless network makes it a bit too easy for the lazy hacker. This question focuses on the hardware-level MAC address, and not the network layer IP address.
D) The default username and password is filtered to restrict remote access to the wireless access point
The default username and password should be changed, and login rights should be restricted to the access point. None of these access-level rights are associated with MAC filtering.
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Want to know more? Watch “Wireless Security.”A wireless network provides excellent mobility, but it also creates a number of security concerns. In this video, we’ll discuss wireless encryption types and aspects of access point security that include MAC filtering, SSID management, IP addressing, and firmware. |