AP® Cybersecurity glossary
MAC address
Also called: media access control address, physical address
A 48-bit identifier of a network interface card, written in hexadecimal and used to deliver frames on one local link.
Appears in the course and exam description (CED): 3.1.A.13.2.A.23.5.E.3
Why it matters in Unit 3
media access control (MAC) addresses appear in address resolution protocol (ARP) poisoning, MAC flooding, MAC filtering and port security. MAC here has nothing to do with Mac computers.
Example
3C:52:82:4A:9F:10. The first three bytes identify the manufacturer; the last three identify one card.
Learn it properly, with a checkpoint Addresses: MAC, IP, ARP, DNS and ICMP