What is a consideration for using MAC authentication (MAC-Auth) to secure a wired or wireless...

MAC authentication, also known as MAC-Auth, is a method used to authenticate devices based on their Media Access Control (MAC) address. It is often employed in both wired and wireless networks to grant network access based solely on the MAC address of a device. While MAC-Auth is straightforward and doesn’t require complex configuration, it has significant security limitations primarily because MAC addresses can be easily spoofed. Attackers can change the MAC address of their device to match an authorized one, thereby gaining unauthorized access to the network. This susceptibility to MAC address spoofing makes MAC-Auth a weaker security mechanism compared to more robust authentication methods like 802.1X, which involves mutual authentication and encryption protocols.