Thursby Solves Mac Email Security Headache for US Government Workers

Arlington, TX, September 22, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Thursby Software Systems, Inc., announced secure Apple email support for US Government workers in the latest version of its PKard for Mac software. PKard solves a security headache for the growing numbers of Mac users who are US Government employees and contractors.

In Apple’s latest OS X Lion operating system there is no native smart card support. Smart cards are required to handle basic tasks like access to secure web portals and email, mandated by Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12, or HSPD-12 Previous Apple OS X versions had partial support, covering older smart cards only. PKard v1.1 adds secure mail signing, encryption and decryption in Apple Mail to the existing Apple Safari and Google Chrome secure web and web VPN access that cover all CAC and PIV smart cards.

The update to PKard for Mac is free for existing users and pricing remains at $29.95 for new users. PKard has garnered praise from the thousands of Apple Lion, Snow Leopard and Leopard users relying on it since its launch in February this year. Ronald English of the US Army described it as “great product” and Luis Arciniegas of the US Navy as “an all in one wonder.” All US Government issued CAC and PIV smart cards are supported via Thursby’s own Tokend “driver” technology. Thursby products are engineered and proudly supported from Arlington, Texas.

PKard for Mac delivers secure email, web and web VPN functionality authenticated by smart card for US Government users. Secure web sites range from portals such as AKO (Army Knowledge Online), DTS (Defense Travel System), OWA (Outlook Web Access), to the cloud. PKard for Mac’s emphasis is one of simplicity and straightforwardness for non-technical users. It is one of a family of Thursby high security software for Apple devices. PKard for iOS provides similar functionality to PKard for Mac but on Apple iPads and iPhones. ADmitMac PKI delivers end-to-end enterprise Mac integration for directly connected Macs inside agencies and on bases that require more sophisticated smart card single sign-on, Active Directory and storage integration together with wide scale deployment tools. Thursby’s high security Mac software is used across all the armed services and at many Federal agencies such as the NIH, FRB and DEA.

Thursby is celebrating a quarter century of enterprise Apple integration, management and security, the last five with smart card enablement, with over 50,000 clients and over a million licenses sold to-date. Clients come from all seven continents and range from movie and music production, to book and magazine publishing, advertising, the Federal government, education, healthcare and energy, to the Fortune 500.

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