Port Security or 802.1X? — TechKnowSurge

About this interactive

Port security and 802.1X both decide who can plug in, and they make different trade-offs. Port security uses the MAC address. It is simple and cheap: the switch does it alone, it can lock a port to one address, and it can limit how many addresses a port allows. Its two problems are the ones the lesson names. A MAC address is easy to spoof, and a machine tied to a port cannot move to another port without someone changing the switch. 802.1X asks the device to authenticate before the port opens. The supplicant is the device asking for access, the authenticator is the switch or access point it connects to, and the authentication server gives the yes or no. It can check the user, the machine or both, using certificates, credentials or a smart card, and an authenticated machine can use any port. The price is complexity: it needs AAA services and several protocols working together. Sort by the need. If the need is cheap, quick, or a limit on how many devices, port security fits. If it is identity, resistance to spoofing, or moving between ports, 802.1X does.

What you'll learn

Choose between MAC-based port security and 802.1X for a stated need, weighing port security's simplicity against its spoofing and portability problems
Recognize the needs only 802.1X meets: access by user, machine or both, with certificates, credentials or smart cards, from any port

Aligned to

CompTIA Security+

3.2 Given a scenario, apply security principles to secure enterprise infrastructure.

Key terms

802.1X: An IEEE standard for port-based network access control that requires devices to authenticate before gaining access to a wired or wireless network, using a supplicant, authenticator, and authentication server (typically RADIUS). It is the foundation of enterprise Wi-Fi security and wired port security using EAP methods.
Port Security: A Cisco switch feature that restricts which devices can connect to a port by limiting the number of allowed MAC addresses or requiring specific MAC addresses to be present. When a violation occurs, the port can be configured to shut down, restrict traffic, or send an alert.
Spoofing: An attack where an adversary impersonates a trusted entity by falsifying data such as an IP address or email address.
Authentication Server: The server in a network access control framework (such as 802.1X) that validates supplicant credentials and grants or denies network access based on authentication policy. RADIUS is the most common authentication server protocol.

Topics

Interactive Streak Sort

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