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I am currently setting up secure environment between 2 pc in isolated network.

Just wondering can we do file sharing based on that pc mac address instead of username?

The environment is OEM Windows 7

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Hi..How are these PCs networked ? (wireless or ethernet) – aRun Mar 14 at 5:18
Hi aRun, Is connected through Ethernet and using direct straight network cable with static IP address. Any Idea? – Kay Mar 14 at 5:28
Hi @Kay, welcome to IT Security. Please read the FAQ - questions here must be about security, and not how to configure something. However, instead of just migrating this to Super User, can you give us some more information? Some context, as to why you want to do this, from a security PoV. Perhaps your question should be "Is this even a good idea". (The answer would probably be "No."). – AviD♦ Mar 14 at 9:55
It is worth noting that you would still need usernames. MAC addresses are not a security measure and can be easily spoofed. They do not provide authentication. – AJ Henderson Mar 14 at 13:08

closed as off topic by Terry Chia, GdD, Antony Vennard, Gilles, AJ Henderson Mar 14 at 13:07

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1 Answer

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MAC addressing resides in Layer 2 of the OSI model. Most of file sharing protocols are way up in Layer 7. I doubt you can do what you're trying to do only using MAC addresses.

It is possible to transfer anything using any layer of the OSI model. You can get physical and send the files bit by bit by yourself through the wire. You can even write an application that uses ICMP to setup a connection channels and use it to send and receive files.

I'm not sure what this has to do with security, but the answer is yes, it's possible. But I don't think there's any application that readily supports it.

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Don't you want to mention how trivial it is to spoof MAC addresses...? – AviD♦ Mar 14 at 10:52
@AviD I believe it's not relevant to this question. The OP's network is only between 2 machines in an isolated network. Even "spoofing" IP address in his case would be as easy as going to the Control Panel and writing a new IP address in the TCP/IP settings. – Adnan Mar 14 at 11:28
Hmm, 2 machines in peer-to-peer? So it would be as simple as restricting it as "local" or "not local"... Again why bother with MAC? – AviD♦ Mar 14 at 12:12
@AviD Exactly my thought. OP didn't give enough information to assess the whole case. – Adnan Mar 14 at 12:28

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