MAC address scrambling coming to Linux

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MAC address scrambling coming to Linux

bill

12:01 pm on Jan 20, 2016 (gmt 0)

https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2016/01/20/mac-address-scrambling-coming-to-linux/ [nakedsecurity.sophos.com]

MAC address scrambling coming to Linux

Apple’s iOS had it since version 8. Windows 10 has it.

And pretty soon, Linux will have it, too.

It’s the ability to scramble the unique media access control (MAC) address that each mobile device gets in accordance with the 802.11 Wi-Fi standards.

Those unique MAC addresses allow mobile users to be tracked by all sorts of busybodies (and curious researchers!)

graeme_p

8:27 am on Feb 13, 2016 (gmt 0)

The article, particularly the title, is misleading.

It has been possible to change and randomise MAC addresses with Linux for a long time, I think longer than for Windows and probably Apple. [wiki.archlinux.org...]

What is new is that it is going to be built into network manager so will be the default on most distros, rather than being something you need to install and configure. A good thing, but not quite what the article reports.