Intended for use by Administrators and Crypto Officers

Apr 27, 2012 08:44 GMT  ·  By

Apple has launched FIPS Cryptographic Module version 1.1, an update to the Apple FIPS 140-2 Administration Tools package intended for use by admins and Crypto Officers that require the use of a FIPS 140-2 validated cryptographic module in their respective enterprises.

A Federal Information Processing Standard, or FIPS, is a standardization developed by the United States federal government for use by all non-military government agencies and by government contractors in computing, when properly invoked and tailored on a contract.

Wikipedia says many FIPS pronouncements are modified versions of the standards used in the technical communities. These include the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Apple’s FIPS Cryptographic Module v1.1 weighs 25.5 MB and requires OS X Lion. The Cupertino computer giant shows administrators “How to set up and maintain a FIPS-enabled OS X Lion system” in a document published on its Support site.

Apple states that “The FIPS validated CDSA/CSP cryptographic module that ships with OS X Lion requires an additional setup step to place the system into ‘FIPS Mode’ for full compliance.”

According to the Mac makers, “the FIPS Administration Installer must be obtained and installed on the system by the system administrator (Crypto Officer).”

Admins must refer to the FIPS Administration Tools Crypto Officer Role Guide for complete instructions about FIPS Administration Installation and management.

“OS X Lion security services are now built on a newer ‘Next Generation Cryptography’ platform and have transitioned from the CDSA/CSP module previously validated on Mac OS X v10.6,” Apple adds.

“However, Apple has re-validated the same CDSA/CSP module under OS X Lion to provide continued validation solely for third-party applications.”

Download Apple FIPS Cryptographic Module v1.1 (Free)