Centrify’s DirectControl for Mac OS X enables Macs to work with Microsoft Active Directory environments. Its newly announced SmartCard Login Option enables those Macs to work with Department of Defense (DoD) Common Access Cards (CACs) and other two-factor authentication-based “smart cards.”
It will be available in early March, 2007. DirectControl for Mac OS X is priced at $60 per computer; the SmartCard Login Option is an additional $30 per workstation.
Common Access Cards are standard identification for active duty military personnel, civilian employees and some contractors. They are used not only for identification but also for security and data encryption when working with computer systems under DoD control.
Mac OS X already supports Common Access Cards, but DirectControl takes that support a step further by letting system administrators use Group Policy functions in Active Directory to make sure that Mac OS X systems working on the network adhere to organizational security policies. DirectControl supports Mac OS X, Unix and Linux systems to work as Active Directory clients. DirectControl supports online and offline login with smart cards, as well.