IPSecuritas for Mac

Product summary

IPSecuritas is a free IPSec client designed for secure VPN connections on Mac systems. It falls under internet/connection utility software and provides a GUI-based way to manage IPSec tunnels. The program is distributed in English and targets Mac OS X (and earlier) installations.

Distribution and usage figures

• First added to software listings in 2005; total downloads recorded: 7,544.
• Recent activity: 3 downloads in the last week.
• Popular user regions include the United States, Switzerland, and India.
• The current build is version 3.1, last updated on 2007-10-17.
• The app is lightweight compared with many other internet utilities, requiring minimal disk space.

System compatibility and basic requirements

• Runs on Mac OS X (10.3 or later recommended for full functionality).
• IPSecuritas 3.x is a universal build that supports both PPC and Intel Macs.
• Interface and messages are available in English.

Notable capabilities and enhancements

• Network change awareness that keeps tunnels active when the machine’s IP or default interface changes.
• Per-connection DNS and domain-specific DNS configuration (replaces earlier global-only DNS overrides).
• Multiple connection profiles let you switch sets of tunnels and settings depending on location or use case.
• Host-to-network and network-to-network mappings can be defined without limits.
• Connection wizards simplify setup for many popular devices and gateways.
• Support for NAT traversal (NAT-T) following IKE draft/RFC specifications.
• Phase 1 extended authentication using username/password credentials.
• Check Point compatibility: username/password authentication and UDP encapsulation on port 2746 (requires enabling VPN-1 support in preferences).
• Ability to import/export connection definitions and associated certificates; exported profiles can be password protected.
• Certificate formats supported for import/export: PKCS#12, DER, and password-protected PEM (both certificates and private keys).
• Options to lock down connection definitions (read-only, hidden, or disallow export) for tighter administrator control.
• Improved certificate management, clearer connection status displays, and better visibility into configuration issues.
• Enhanced logging with improved display and export capability.
• Kernel-level APIs are accessed without external helper tools; the app auto-restarts connections after network/config changes and can perform keep-alive pings and automatic recovery of failed tunnels.
• Experimental IPv6 support (limited testing).

Known limitations and open issues

• Autostart of connections is not functioning in this release.
• Importing an exported connection via double-click does not work.
• Minor graphical glitches observed under Mac OS X 10.3 (for example, some log window severity indicators).
• No end-user documentation is bundled with the application yet.

Suggested alternative

If you need another option to explore, uTorrent (free) is listed as a commonly recommended alternative in similar download repositories.