[MLB-WIRELESS] MAC security - how good is it?

[Tony Langdon]

that was what i was thinking too, but there are (wired) network cards around
with programmable macs. 
 
This is very common. 

 
so the conclusion i'm getting from all these replies is that mac is only to
stop the most casual interference. fair enough. 

It's a hurdle, but not a significant one to the determined cracker.  In
fact, one _disadvantage_ of MAC filtering is that all traffic _will_ come
from a legitimate MAC address, so it may be _harder_ to spot attacks...

is there any major drawbacks to using something like freeSwan? does it take
a big speed hit or just a little one like 5% or something?
thanks, Nathan 
 

I don't know what the speed hit is, but I don't think it'd be too
significant.  If security is a goal, the benefits would far outweigh the
disadvantages. 

---
Outgoing mail has been scanned for Viruses
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.449 / Virus Database: 251 - Release Date: 27/01/2003
 

This correspondence is for the named person's use only. It may contain
confidential or legally privileged information or both. No confidentiality
or privilege is waived or lost by any mistransmission. If you receive this
correspondence in error, please immediately delete it from your system and
notify the sender. You must not disclose, copy or rely on any part of this
correspondence if you are not the intended recipient.

Any opinions expressed in this message are those of the individual sender.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.wireless.org.au/pipermail/melbwireless/attachments/20030212/223b115f/attachment.html>