Tuesday, May 30, 2006

China battles rejection of Wi-Fi encryption algorithm

The Chinese Government is upset that the ISO rejected their wireless encryption technology known as WAPI back in March. What was the ISO's concern? The Chinese had refused to disclose some details of their technology so ISO members were not sure that there wasn't a backdoor to WAPI encrypted material. Because of this only 32% of ISO members supported it. The Chinese are crying foul and accusing the US IEEE of conspiracy and unethical behavior since the ISO favored IEEE's 802.11i encryption standard.

Gee. ya think maybe the fact the Chinese government was unwilling to give all the info to the ISO had something to do with it being rejected? I guess if you are totalitarian state it is easier to posture and complain, than to give the details of your standard to the standards folks. Personally, I'm glad the ISO rejected it on that basis, as they should reject any technology which they are not allowed to evalutate to their satisfaction. Anyone want to take bets as to there being a little hidden something in WAPI?

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:28 PM

    I'm glad the Chinese algorithm was rejected. What is the point of encryption if you know that a government has the keys?
    I hope the Chinese (and American) people begin using email encryption such as Taceo or PGP, to ensure that thier Governments can't listen-in on thier email communications.

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  2. Anonymous10:35 PM

    What is the point of using encryption if your Government can listen in on your communications? I'm glad thier encryption algorithm was rejected, especially since likely have a backdoor key.

    I really hope people around the world start using free products like Taceo or OpenPGP to encrypt thier email. Using encryption is every bit about preserving freedom as it is security.

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