Security Solutions

3-13
Designing Access Controls
Choose the Access Control Methods
Choose the Access Control Methods
As outlined in Chapter 1: “Access Control Concepts,” there are three access
control methods:
■ MAC Authentication (MAC-Auth)
■ Web Authentication (Web-Auth)
■ 802.1X
Each method has advantages and disadvantages, as Table 3-1 shows.
Table 3-1. Advantages and Disadvantages of Access Control Methods
Access Control
Method
Advantages Disadvantages Security Level
MAC-Auth (local and
RADIUS)
• Control over which
endpoints connect to the
network
• No software on the endpoint
• In the wireless world, easy
to combine with other
security
• Not scalable
• High administrative
overhead
• Susceptible to
spoofing—fairly easy to
spoof authorized MAC
address
• Hardware-based, rather
than user-based,
authentication
Low
• Low-to-medium effort to
crack
• Prevents casual,
unauthorized users
Web-Auth • Ideal for public zones
• Control over which users
access the network
• No configuration
required—especially for
wireless endpoints
• No 802.1X supplicant
required
• Centralized user
authentication
• No encryption by default
• RADIUS server required
• Web browser interface
(user interaction)
required—no
authentication of headless
devices
• No seamless roaming for
wireless networks
Medium
• Medium-to-high effort to
crack
• Prevents more diligent
attacks than MAC-Auth
does