Apple OS X gets IPsec VPN client
Mac users are being offered a new and feature-rich alternative to Apple’s in-house OS X VPN client, free of charge to individual users.
NCP’s Secure Mac Client for Leopard 10.5 and Snow Leopard 10.6 claims to greatly extend the basic features of Apple’s built-in client while offering compatibility with a wider range of IPSec VPN gateways.
Notably, the software comes with a built in firewall that can make decisions about the sort of connection available, activating security rules as appropriate. It can also overcome the limitations of IPSec tunnelling, such as where a firewall will not permit such connections, using what the company calls ‘VPN Path Finder’. This is basically a fall back to https on port 80.
