MAC Filtering

MAC filtering controls network access by allow-listing or block-listing devices based on their Layer-2 MAC addresses, commonly on Wi-Fi access points and switches. It is trivially bypassed by MAC spoofing and so provides no real security on its own; meaningful access control requires 802.1X with EAP or, on Wi-Fi, WPA2/3-Enterprise.

Categories: Security ControlsThreats and AttacksFraud

MAC Filtering in context

Security controls span signaling firewalls (SS7/Diameter/GTP screening), transport encryption (IPsec, TLS, PRINS), identity and access on OSS/BSS, and monitoring at both packet and log level. Controls are audited against GSMA FS.11/FS.19/FS.20/FS.36.

Telecom threats range from opportunistic SMS phishing and SIM swap to nation-state grade location tracking. The common thread is that most attacks exploit the inherited trust model of legacy signaling protocols.

To place MAC Filtering in the wider telecom-security picture, review CLI Spoofing, Vishing, A5/0, Artificial Traffic Inflation, ASN and BGP Hijacking — each entry cross-references back to this page so you can walk the topic in either direction.

Related terms

More from the TelcoSec Glossary

Browse the full TelcoSec Glossary, the Ultimate Guide to Mobile Network Security, or the P1 Arsenal of telecom-security tools.