T hink of it as the U.S. Governmentis version of the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Apple has offered up OS X for scrutiny and testing, a major step towards general acceptance and use by government agencies, according to an article in News.com titled "Apple aims for Uncle Sam connection." From the article:
Looking to gain some business in the government market, Apple Computer has submitted its operating system for an independent security evaluation.
The testing, being done as part of the U.S. governmentis National Information Assurance Partnership, will evaluate Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server on a series of common criteria used by a number of countries to evaluate the security features of various technologies. The evaluation allows governments and businesses to compare the relative security features of different products.
Submitting the operating system for testing could help give the Mac more clout in government circles, said Tom Goguen, director of worldwide product marketing for Appleis server software unit.
"It will help us get more exposure," Goguen said.
The testing process could take about a year. Apple needs to jump in now, however, as new regulations require U.S. government agencies to purchase IT products that have either been certified or are in the process of being certified. In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the government has taken a much harder look at computer security.
Stop by News.com to read the full article, which contains links to the government testing agencies involved.