MAC addresses have always been a means to Layer 2 OSI communication, but recent decades have seen the rising usage of MAC addresses as personal identifiers for customer service, device identification, and traffic offloading in numerous networks.Īs with any identifying data point, marketers were quick to jump on using MAC addresses for tracking customers with the help of public Wi-Fi probe attacks, tracking beacons, and other privacy invading technologies.
Why Randomized MAC Addresses Are Becoming the Standard
Randomization of the MAC address can happen at timed intervals or whenever the device probes a new SSID. Randomization techniques have also changed over time, but usually, MAC addresses randomize as a device probes new networks around it. They depend on the manufacturer and the 802.11 chipset a device uses. Not all MAC randomization protocols are the same. MAC randomization happens when software changes the global MAC address of the device. For most users, this latter type of predictable randomization provides no added benefit, as it is easy to identify and track. In some cases, the first octets (1/6ths of the MAC address) still represent the device manufacturer and model, pseudo-randomizing the rest of the address. MAC randomization is a process where software changes the hardware MAC addresses (also known as global MAC addresses) to random and unpredictable strings. What happens when every third device has a random MAC address on a network? Read on to find out! What Is MAC Randomization This is a cause for concern, as our device intelligence analysts working on CUJO AI Explorer expect over 30% of all mobile devices to use MAC randomization by Feb 2021. Many networking services still rely on MAC addresses for device authentication and security. This means that MAC randomization is quickly becoming the de facto standard in the mobile networking industry. Randomized MAC addresses are meant to obscure mobile devices and increase their privacy, making some networking and authentication solutions obsolete.ĭownload a short MAC randomization whitepaper.Īccording to separate research studies done by Microsoft and Singular, most users do not change default settings on their devices. All iOS 14 devices have randomization enabled by default, as well as Android 10 devices from Google, Samsung, and OnePlus. Media access control (MAC) address randomization is a challenge for most traditional network operators and public Wi-Fi services.
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