Well, if a hacker has your MAC address, he can impersonate you and commit various crimes using your MAC address or steal from you. You might wonder why it is important that people can’t track your online activities with your MAC access. In other words, the hacker impersonates you!! Just as the SSN identifies you globally, a Mac address identifies your device in the network. That number gives the perpetrator direct access to credit applications and more by having your actual SSN. Just think of this situation as using someone’s social security number. Spoofing your Mac address prevents direct hacking because the impersonator cannot access your device directly without the actual address. The danger occurs in schools, public Wi-Fi, and workplaces alike. Of course, you’d have to use only one of the two devices that use the same MAC address.įurthermore, hackers on the same network as your devices do exist, depending on circumstances. This process allows your spoofed device to gain benefits from the other device. If your ISP or local domain restricts a device’s bandwidth, app use, or priority based on the identified Mac address, changing it to another device’s Mac address fools the ISP. Another term for this transition is Mac spoofing, which is done for legitimate and illicit purposes alike. Other times, you may want your device to appear as another one even though it is not. Sometimes, you may want your device to bypass access control lists on routers or servers to hide it from other networked devices and users.

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