Of interest to security folks... From Dave Farber's IP list.. ------------- Begin Forwarded Message -------------
Date: Tue, 03 Feb 2004 18:33:18 -0500 From: Dave Farber <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> China Mandates Closed Security Standard The Wi-Fi Alliance and IEEE were apparently taken by surprise when the Chinese government's regulatory arm announced that only devices that included WAPI (Wired Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure) would be legal to sell in China after Dec. 1, 2003. That was the first most companies and individuals had heard of WAPI, which is a home-grown replacement for the broken WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) standard that in the rest of the world is being replaced by WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) and IEEE 802.11i (due to be finished in 2004). The Chinese apparently didn't want to wait for WPA or 802.11i, and have mandated WAPI on new equipment. Existing gear doesn't have to be trashed, and companies with contracts to deliver equipment that extended past Dec. 1 were allowed to continue to deliver it. Only a handful of Chinese companies are licensed to include WAPI in their equipment, which may force non-Chinese vendors to partner to continue to sell into a growing market. What's worse, WAPI is confidential. It hasn't been openly discussed or tested, and given the nature of China's monitoring of other forms of communication, it's likely that the standard includes a method for interception of ostensibly encrypted traffic. ------------------------------------- Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/ ------------- End Forwarded Message ------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- Gregory Hicks | Principal Systems Engineer Cadence Design Systems | Direct: 408.576.3609 555 River Oaks Pkwy M/S 6B1 | Fax: 408.894.3400 San Jose, CA 95134 | Internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED] "The trouble with doing anything right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was." When a team of dedicated individuals makes a commitment to act as one... the sky's the limit. Just because "We've always done it that way" is not necessarily a good reason to continue to do so... Grace Hopper, Rear Admiral, United States Navy --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]