CREST Practitioner Security Analyst (CPSA) 2026 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

The statement that a Media Access Control (MAC) address is essential for identifying each node on a network is accurate. MAC addresses serve as unique identifiers for devices on a local network, ensuring that data packets are correctly delivered between devices. Typically, a MAC address consists of six pairs of hexadecimal digits, making it unique to the network interface card (NIC) of each device. This unique identification is crucial for network communication, as it allows switches and routers to manage data traffic effectively and ensures that each device can be reliably located within a network.

The other statements do not accurately reflect the nature of MAC addresses. While a MAC address is not a numerical identifier for network applications, it is specifically tied to hardware for communication purposes. Although MAC addresses can be spoofed or configured to change, they are generally static and associated with the hardware. Lastly, MAC addresses are not longer than IPv4 addresses. An IPv4 address is 32 bits (4 bytes) long, while a MAC address is 48 bits (6 bytes), making them different in length and the purpose they serve within a network.