WAP on the attack - Technology Information

Telecommunications, March, 2001 by Scott Goldman

Built from the ground up to provide secure wireless communication and transactions, the WAP specification is highly resistant to security attacks and includes end-to-end encryption. Every step of the communication or transaction - from the handset through the wireless net-work, to the gateway, into the internet, and back - is encrypted. A second security layer allows developers and enterprises to use a public key infrastructure (PKI) schema in their application. Companies demanding strict security measures, such as Amazon.com, Charles Schwab brokerage, Oracle software, and VeriSign, use the WAP specification for their services and as their platform for future mobile commerce efforts.

De facto standard

The WAP protocol has become the de facto standard for the presentation and delivery of information and advanced services to internet-enabled mobile phones and other innovative wireless devices, as the following evidence shows:

* virtually every handset manufacturer worldwide has agreed to include a WAP browser on almost every handset they produce;

* WAP Forum membership has more than doubled in the last year and includes France Telecom, Sonera, Hongkong Telecom, NTT DoCoMo, Vodafone and Telstra;

* the WAP Forum (www.wapforum.org) web site receives more than one million hits each month - just from its members;

* the WAP Forum's 19 working groups are so proactive that they require five meetings per year in various around-the-world locations, 65 e-mail lists, and weekly teleconferences;

* in one highly popular service, BT Cellnet has attracted 400,000 customers to its WAP-enabled data service, and importantly garnered us$160 ([epsilon]175) per user in additional annual revenues;

* more than 4,000,000 WAP-readable pages are available on the internet, with more coming online daily; and

* growing numbers of creative applications worldwide have been developed for mobile commerce and location-smart services.

Although only manufacturers and developers can announce and/or unveil new WAP-enabled products, many more will be in store with the introduction of next-generation WAP 2001 version. The improved new architecture, new markup language and multimedia features, such as full-colour graphics, animation, large file downloading and context-sensitive navigation, will attract yet more consumers, manufacturers, applications developers and services providers. Music lovers, for instance, will be able to download and enjoy the latest song on their WAP-enabled phones with stereo headsets. Movie buffs will view video clips from movies playing in the theatres they're near - a combination of streaming video technology and the ability to receive location-specific information (a big key to this technology's success) on their WAP-enabled devices.

In just one WAP application underway in Beijing, Chinese local and regional news will be sent in both Chinese and English (for Chinese audiences in London and San Francisco). With WAP 2001, these services will be able to take advantage of an advanced user interface offering pop-up and context-sensitive menus so that the menu may list a short headline, but the pop-up box could contain several paragraphs of the article. likewise, soft keys could be specific to the application, allowing users to quickly see 'more' or 'related' news.