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China Frustrated In Encryption Talks

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the can't-always-get-what-we-want dept.

mikesd81 writes "According to an AP article, the Chinese are pushing for the encryption standard called WAPI. It's not going so well, as the majority of countries are taking the IEEE standard 802.11i. From the article: 'An international dispute over a wireless computing standard took a bitter turn this past week with the Chinese delegation walking out of a global meeting to discuss the technology. The delegation's walkout from Wednesday's opening of a two-day meeting in the Czech Republic escalated an already rancorous struggle by China to gain international acceptance for its homegrown encryption technology known as WAPI. It follows Chinese accusations that a U.S.-based standards body used underhanded tactics to prevent global approval of WAPI.'"

5 of 252 comments (clear)

  1. Maybe I'm too paranoid, but... by damburger · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Isn't it possible the Chinese could be pushing an encryption standard because they know a flaw in it they can exploit?

    --
    If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
    1. Re:Maybe I'm too paranoid, but... by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 5, Interesting
      Uh...licensing costs? They just steal it. It's standard operating procedure. Seriously.

      Just this weekend, I was at the local expo at my city here in China (I'm an expat). I open up their little guide magazine that comes with the gift bag and city map. Inside, I find content ripped off directly from my own website (I run the local English-language city guide). It's stuff that I wrote, and the freaking government copied it. Of course, there was no use complaining - what am I going to do, sue?

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  2. It boils down to... by QuietLagoon · · Score: 4, Interesting
    ...who can crack whose encryption.

    The Chinese want their encryption to be the standard so that they can use their backdoor.

    The US wants its encryption to be the standard so they can use their backdoor.

  3. censorship by kdougherty · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm not trying to be negative, especially towards China... However, I would never accept a security concept from any government that filters and censors their country's internet. Seems like an oxymoron to me.

    --
    The best way to predict the future is to invent it. -Alan Kay
  4. Re:Not so fast Sherlock... by jdhutchins · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's also possible the NSA knew of some weakness, and then subtly changed the algorithm to fix it. The NSA's internal research is possibly many, many years ahead of the rest of the world's research. IIRC, when DES was being developed, the NSA made some changed to it, but didn't say why. Years later, when differential cryptography was invented/discovered, the NSA's changes made perfect sense because it made the algorithm resistant to many of those types of attacks.