MACsec (Media Access Control Security)provides data confidentiality, integrity, and origin authenticity at Layer 2, protecting against several types of threats.
Step-by-Step Breakdown:
* Man-in-the-Middle Attack Protection:MACsec encrypts traffic at Layer 2, preventingman-in-the- middle attackswhere an attacker intercepts and manipulates traffic between two communicating devices. Since the data is encrypted, any intercepted packets are unreadable.
* Protection Against Playback Attacks:MACsec also protects againstplayback attacksby using sequence numbers and timestamps to ensure that old, replayed packets are not accepted by the receiver.
Juniper Reference:
* MACsec Configuration: Juniper devices support MACsec for securing Layer 2 communications, ensuring protection against replay and man-in-the-middle attacks in sensitive environments.