IEEE 802.1AE (also known as MACsec) is a network security standard that operates at the medium access control layer and defines connectionless data confidentiality and integrity for media access independent protocols.
The 802.1AE standard specifies the implementation of a MAC Security Entities (SecY) that can be thought of as part of the stations attached to the same LAN, providing secure MAC service to the client.
The standard defines Security tag inside each frame in addition to EtherType includes: The IEEE 802.1AE (MACsec) standard specifies a set of protocols to meet the security requirements for protecting data traversing Ethernet LANs.
MACsec allows unauthorized LAN connections to be identified and excluded from communication within the network.
By assuring that a frame comes from the station that claimed to have sent it, MACSec can mitigate attacks on Layer 2 protocols.