Have you considered how secure your wireless network is with the use of Windows 10?

Some Windows 10 users are finding it difficult to connect to their corporate wifi network due to MAC randomization on Windows 10. Annoying as this may be, we see it as a good opportunity to review your wifi network’s security.

What is a MAC Address?

Think of it as a computers fingerprint for a network device for either the wireless or network card that you plug your internet cable into.

How do you secure your network?

You most likely secure your wireless networks with some of the following points –

1. MAC Authentication (Only allowing physical devices based on their hardware ID)
2. Network separation with VLANs or disparate network provisions from your main ‘corporate’ network
3. RADIUS authentication
4. Enforcing the latest WPA2 encryption types

Beware that with the release of Windows 10 and users who BYOD (Bring your own device) equipment may have enabled ‘MAC Randomization in Windows 10’.  This affects your policy regarding point 1 – MAC Authentication.  The feature changes the MAC address randomly on a network card.

If you require users to register their MAC address with you before they bring the device into the workplace then some users may disable MAC randomization in order to reduce network management overhead.

This should bring to light the fact that as a MAC address can so easily be changed, it may be unwise to rely on this feature as your only network security feature.  It’s an indication that you should perhaps review your security restrictions.

Should you decide to enable or disable this feature it can through your settings app –

Network & Internet – WiFi – Avanced Options – Toggle the option called ‘Random Hardware Addresses’