Mac OS X Hacks

Secure Tunneling with VPN or SSH

Mac OS X’s built-in Virtual Private Network client and SSH offer two secure ways to tunnel in to your company or organization.

Mac OS X 10.2 includes a Virtual Private Network (VPN) client for tunneling securely into your company or organization’s network, authenticating yourself, and gaining access to shared resources otherwise available only to those on site. This works regardless of whether your connection to the Internet is dial-up, DSL, cable-modem, or what-have-you. You’ll sometimes hear VPNs referred to as Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP). Whatever you call it, previous versions of the Mac OS didn’t include a VPN client, leaving you to third-party software like DigiTunnel (http://www.gracion.com/vpn/).

Tip

The endpoint of your VPN connection (i.e., your office) will need to be running a VPN server in order for this to work.

To initiate a VPN connection, the first step is to ensure that you’re connected to the Internet in some form. Once you’re online, launch Applications → Internet Connect or select Open Internet Connect . . . from the Internet Connect menu bar icon, as shown in Figure 6-9.

Figure 6-9. Launching Internet Connect from the menu bar

Select File → New VPN Connection Window or press Shift-

-P. Enter the server address, ...