WAPI

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WAPI (WLAN Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure) is a Chinese National Standard for Wireless LAN (GB 15629.11-2003). Although it is supposed to work on top of WiFi, compatibility with the security protocol used by the 802.11 wireless networking standard developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. (IEEE) is in dispute.

WAPI works by having a central Authentication Service Unit (ASU) which is known to both the wireless user and the access point and which acts as a central authority verifying both. The WAPI standard requires the use of a symmetric encryption algorithm^[1], SMS4, which was declassified in January 2006. The standard and its cryptographic implementation remain unpublished.

In late 2003, the Chinese government announced a policy requiring that wireless devices sold in China include WAPI support and foreign companies wanting access to the Chinese market would have to partner with one of 11 Chinese firms to which the standard was disclosed. This issue became a point of trade discussions between the then United States Secretary of State Colin Powell and his Chinese Government equivalent. China agreed to indefinitely postpone implementation of the policy.

The Chinese Standards Association (SAC) subsequently submitted WAPI to the ISO standards organization for recognition as an international standard, at about the same time as the IEEE 802.11i standard. After much debate related to both process issues and technical issues, the IEC/ISO Secretaries General decided to send the proposals to parallel fast track ballots. In March 2006, the 802.11i proposal was approved by fast track ballot and the WAPI proposal was rejected. This result was confirmed at a Ballot Resolution meeting held in June 2006. The result was subject to two appeals by SAC to the ISO/IEC Secretaries General that alleges "unethical" and "amoral" behaviour during the balloting process and irregularities during the ballot resolution process. The official Chinese news agency Xinhua said on May 29, 2006, that appeals were filed in April and May 2006 and, the agency said, alleged that the IEEE was involved in "organizing a conspiracy against the China-developed WAPI, insulting China and other national bodies, and intimidation and threats." Xinhua did not make these allegations specific. In July 2006, 802.11i was published as an ISO/IEC standard and it appears WAPI is no longer being considered by ISO/IEC and that all appeals have been dismissed.

After the preliminary results were announced in March 2006, various press reports from China suggested that WAPI may still be mandated in China. TBT (Technical Barrier to Trade) declarations to the WTO in January 2006 and a statement in June 2006 to ISO/IEC JTC1/SC6, in which SAC said they would not respect the status of 802.11i as an international standard, would seem to support this possibility.

In early 2006, the Wired Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure (WAPI) Industrial Union was established to promote WAPI certification. It consists of 22 members, including Lenovo, Huawei and Beijing Founder Electronics, as well as China's four major telecom operators.