What can a hacker do with my MAC address?

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Level 1

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What can a hacker do with my MAC address?

Hi, thanks for looking. I am concerned that someone who lives close to me saw my MAC address. I have reason to believe this person is a hacker.

If someone knew my MAC address or IP address could they monitor my internet use if they wanted to? My macbook is connected directly to the cable modem, it is not a wireless internet connection. The firewall is enabled and file sharing, etc. is switched off. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Apr 8, 2014 5:54 PM

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Answer 1

Melophage

Level 5

7,213 points

Apr 8, 2014 8:40 PM in response to FSheldrake

FSheldrake,

many wireless routers can be set up to filter allowable wireless connections by a MAC address whitelist. Since you’re not using a wireless connection, that shouldn’t be an issue for you.

Unless you have a static IP address associated with your cable modem connection, knowledge of your IP address is largely irrelevant, since there is no guarantee that it would remain the same for any significant period of time. Additionally, if your cable modem uses NAT so that you can have a private local network (e.g. if your IP address is of the form 192.168.something.something_else), then that private IP address would not be able to uniquely identify you.

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