An administrator is responsible for configuring network access for a temporary network printer. The administrator must only use the printer MAC address 50:89:65: 18:8: AB for authentication. Which authentication method will accomplish the task?

MAC Authentication Bypass (MAB) is the appropriate authentication method for devices that do not support the 802.1X protocol, such as network printers. MAB uses the device's MAC address as its credential for authentication. The network access device (e.g., a switch) captures the MAC address of the connecting device and sends it in a RADIUS Access-Request to the authentication server (like Cisco ISE). The server then checks this MAC address against a database of known endpoints. If the MAC address is found and permitted by policy, network access is granted. This method directly meets the requirement of authenticating the printer using only its MAC address.

A. Posturing: Posturing is a process that assesses the security compliance of an endpoint after authentication; it is not an authentication method.
B. Profiling: Profiling is a classification mechanism that identifies the type of device on the network but does not perform authentication.
D. 802.1x: 802.1X is a port-based authentication standard that requires a supplicant on the client device and uses credentials, not just the MAC address.

1. Cisco Identity Services Engine Administrator Guide

Release 3.1

"Authentication Policies"

Section: "MAC Authentication Bypass". The guide states

"MAC Authentication Bypass (MAB) is a process that authenticates devices based on their MAC addresses. MAB is used for devices that do not support 802.1X

such as printers

IP phones

and so on."

2. Cisco Press

"Cisco ISE for BYOD and Secure Unified Access

2nd Edition"

Chapter 3: "ISE Authentication and Authorization"

Section: "MAC Authentication Bypass". This section details that MAB is an alternative to 802.1X where the MAC address is used as the username and password for the RADIUS transaction

specifically for non-supplicant devices.

3. Cisco

"Configuring MAC Authentication Bypass (MAB)" Configuration Guide

Document ID: 118933

Section: "MAB Overview". This document explains

"MAB uses the MAC address of the connecting device to perform authentication... When a device connects to a switch port

the switch will initially try to perform 802.1x authentication. If the device does not respond to EAP requests

the switch can then attempt to authenticate the device using MAB."