Bell Atlantic claims : "The MAC address is unique information associated with an Ethernet card that Bell Atlantic.net requires to enable it to provide a secure Internet connection".
Actually, I really have to wonder why they use it. While Ethernet cards have an MAC address burned at the factory which is supposed to be unique, it can be overriden in software.
I don't know if you can do this in Linux, but in OS/2, you can actually specify your own MAC address in the settings for the network card - and not via an obscure config file, but via a GUI, no less. So, if Bell Atlantic relies on the MAC address, you could very easily impersonate another user - just use reverse ARP to find out their MAC address; wait for them to disconnect, and set your own NIC to that MAC address. MAC addresses are not at all secure !
Most software engineers actually don't have a CS degree - it's more than 75% of the profession. Others like me don't have degrees at all and still are very successful in the industry.
If there is indeed a shortage, it's a shortage of people who are good at software - not those who hold CS degrees. I don't believe these groups necessarily intersect that much.
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Bell Atlantic claims :
"The MAC address is unique information associated with an Ethernet card that Bell Atlantic.net requires to enable it to provide a secure Internet connection".
Actually, I really have to wonder why they use it. While Ethernet cards have an MAC address burned at the factory which is supposed to be unique, it can be overriden in software.
I don't know if you can do this in Linux, but in OS/2, you can actually specify your own MAC address in the settings for the network card - and not via an obscure config file, but via a GUI, no less. So, if Bell Atlantic relies on the MAC address, you could very easily impersonate another user - just use reverse ARP to find out their MAC address; wait for them to disconnect, and set your own NIC to that MAC address. MAC addresses are not at all secure !
Most software engineers actually don't have a CS degree - it's more than 75% of the profession.
Others like me don't have degrees at all and still are very successful in the industry.
If there is indeed a shortage, it's a shortage of people who are good at software - not those who hold CS degrees. I don't believe these groups necessarily intersect that much.