Apple has posted its Common Criteria Tools for Mac OS X 10.5, Leopard. Heretofore, the tools worked on on Mac OS X 10.4, Tiger. The Common Criteria Tools allow an organization to evaluate whether a Mac system meets the security criteria theyive established for a system and audit operations on the computer.

"By providing an independent assessment of a products ability to meet security standards, Common Criteria gives customers more confidence in the security of Information Technology products and leads to more informed decisions," Apple said.

The Apple notice includes links to Common Criteria Support, Appleis White Paper and Administrator Guide. The Administrator Guide also includes a general discussion of techniques that can be used to make a Mac more secure, and should be of interest to a broad audience.

Any IT manager working with Macs in the enterprise or government must be aware of the Common Criteria Tool from Apple. For the past two years, Mr. Dan OiDonnell of the RAND Corporation and this author have presented a session at Macworld on the installation and operation of the software.