Any VM runs on physical hardware that will have Ethernet hardware, and ALL Ethernet hardware at its PHY layer each has a unique ID. That means the VM and any other OS on the machine all have to talk to the same IDed hardware regardless. So a VM does not buy you true anonymity. Plus, any tool that can find a way to query the machine's BIOS can get the unique MAC address and then you're identifiable. The MAC address cannot be changed, it is permanent. Also, packets contain that unique ID; with a VPN, the provider does know your MAC address, so a corrupt provider can give info on you if an agency demands it.
MAC address can be changed though? You can do this in the network settings of the virtualization software. I use virtualbox so at least I am certain you can with it. Also, there are tools to spoof your MAC address.
Any VM runs on physical hardware that will have Ethernet hardware, and ALL Ethernet hardware at its PHY layer each has a unique ID. That means the VM and any other OS on the machine all have to talk to the same IDed hardware regardless. So a VM does not buy you true anonymity. Plus, any tool that can find a way to query the machine's BIOS can get the unique MAC address and then you're identifiable. The MAC address cannot be changed, it is permanent. Also, packets contain that unique ID; with a VPN, the provider does know your MAC address, so a corrupt provider can give info on you if an agency demands it.
For more info read: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/23935095/how-are-mac-addresses-used-in-routing-packets#23935402
MAC address can be changed though? You can do this in the network settings of the virtualization software. I use virtualbox so at least I am certain you can with it. Also, there are tools to spoof your MAC address.
Yes. I guess a dedicated person could find the right tools to implement this. The average person though with no specialized tools would be vulnerable.