Identity theft (MAC spoofing)
Identity theft (or
MAC spoofing) occurs when a cracker is able to listen in on network traffic and identify the
MAC address of a computer with network privileges. Most wireless systems allow some kind of
MAC filtering to only allow authorized computers with specific MAC IDs to gain access and utilize the network. However, a number of programs exist that have network “
sniffing” capabilities. Combine these programs with other software that allow a computer to pretend it has any MAC address that the cracker desires, and the cracker can easily get around that hurdle.