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NEWS
China renews support for domestic WLAN encryption standard
From "WAPI supporters ready a last stand in China," by Sumner Lemon, IDG News Service (via InfoWorld), 8 March 2006:
"Chinese companies are not giving up on efforts to promote adoption of a homegrown security protocol for wireless LANs called WAPI (WLAN Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure)...
"Plans that would have forced foreign companies to license WAPI were shelved by China's government in 2004 in the face of determined opposition from industry heavyweights, including Intel and the US government. The technology was later submitted for consideration by international standards groups, including the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
"Resistance to incorporating WAPI into an international WLAN standard appears to have hardened in recent months with continued secrecy surrounding WAPI's encryption algorithm among the issues of greatest concern.
" 'The use of an undisclosed algorithm makes it impossible to evaluate the effective security of the proposed international WLAN standard,' IEEE's 802.11 Working Group said in a document. That document called for WAPI to be removed from consideration as part of an ISO standard.
[openspectrum.info: However, Interfax reported last January that "China will make [the] encryption algorithm for the Chinese-developed WAPI... standard available to both domestic and foreign WLAN... equipment makers, an official with the China Code Administration Bureau said."]"Other factors contributed to IEEE's call to remove WAPI from consideration. 'Attempts over the last two years by non-Chinese companies to procure any version of a WAPI device have failed,' the document said.
[ openspectrum.info: But according to DigiTimes, "Taiwan WLAN-device makers, including CyberTAN Technology and GemTeK Technology, and IC design house Inprocomm already received WAPI certification for their respective WLAN devices in 2004..." These firms might provide access to their devices.]"Opposition to the inclusion of WAPI in the ISO standard has resulted in a renewed effort to promote the technology within China. On Tuesday [7 March], a group of 22 Chinese companies, including Lenovo Group's Chinese operations and the country's major fixed-line and mobile operators, announced the formation of a group, called the WAPI Industry Union, to promote adoption of the security protocol. The group claims WAPI offers better security than technology used in the IEEE's 802.11i standard...
"Despite the renewed attention WAPI has received in China, the technology is unlikely to re-emerge as a mandatory national standard, said Duncan Clark, managing director of BDA China, a telecommunications consultancy in Beijing. Instead, WAPI will likely find a captive market among Chinese government customers, where concerns may exist about using Western encryption, he said. 'There's a valid case for China to have its own encryption technology for state-security purposes,' Clark said.
"Even so, feelings are running high over WAPI's treatment in the international standards process. At the launch of the WAPI Industry Union, supporters lashed out at Western opposition to the technology's adoption, singling out Intel, which dominates the market for WLAN chips through its popular Centrino notebook package. 'Intel's WLAN standard is garbage,' said Cao Jun, general manager of IWNCOMM, the company that developed the technology behind WAPI, quoted in a Chinese newspaper report. In another report, Cao accused Intel of engaging in backroom maneuvers to prevent a vote on WAPI's inclusion as part of an international WLAN standard. Cao could not be reached for comment.
"Intel spokeswoman Jennifer Liu declined to respond to Cao's comments, but she reiterated the company's support for international technology standards, such as 802.11. 'International standards bring fundamental benefits to end users in terms of cost efficiency and convenience,' Liu said."
[WLAN: 10 March 2006]