CSIS 161
3-5-2001
1.WTLS-Wireless Transport Layer Security. WTLS is the security layer of the WAP, providing privacy, data integrity and authentication for WAP services. WTLS, designed specifically for the wireless environment, is needed because the client and the server must be authenticated in order for wireless transactions to remain secure and because the connection needs to be encrypted. For example, a user making a transaction with a bank over a wireless device needs to know that the connection is secure and private and not subject to a security breach during transfer (sometimes referred to as a man-in-the-middle attack). WTLS is needed because mobile networks do not provide complete end-to-end security.
WTLS is based on the widely used TLS v1.0 security layer used in Internet. Because of the nature of wireless transmissions, modifications were made to the TLS v1.0 in order to accommodate for wireless' low bandwidth, datagram connection, limited processing power and memory capacity, and cryptography exporting restrictions.
2.WAP- Wireless Application Protocol is a secure specification that allows users to access information instantly via handheld wireless devices such as mobile phones, pagers, two-way radios, smartphones and communicators. WAP supports most wireless networks. These include CDPD, CDMA, GSM, PDC, PHS, TDMA, FLEX, ReFLEX, iDEN, TETRA, DECT, DataTAC, and Mobitex.
WAP is supported by all operating systems. Ones specifically engineered for handheld devices include PalmOS, EPOC, Windows CE, FLEXOS, OS/9, and JavaOS. WAPs that use displays and access the Internet run what are called microbrowsers--browsers with small file sizes that can accommodate the low memory constraints of handheld devices and the the low-bandwidth constraints of a wireless-handheld network. Although WAP supports HTML and XML, the WML language (an XML application) is specifically devised for small screens and one-hand navigation without a keyboard. WML is scalable from two-line text displays up through graphic screens found on items such as smart phones and communicators. WAP also supports WMLScript. It is similar to JavaScript, but makes minimal demands on memory and CPU power because it does not contain many of the unnecessary functions found in other scripting languages. Because WAP is fairly new, it is not a formal standard yet. It is still an initiative that was started by Unwired Planet, Motorola, Nokia, and Ericsson.
3.WML-Wireless Markup Language is an XML language used to specify content and user interface for WAP devices; the WAP forum provides a DTD for WML. WML is supported by almost every mobile phone browser around the world. WML pages are requested and served in the same way as HDML pages. For Web servers to serve WML pages, they must contain the text/vnd.wap.wml mime type.
4.DTD-document type definition, a type of file associated with SGML and XML documents that defines how the markup tags should be interpreted by the application presenting the document. The HTML specification that defines how Web pages should be displayed by Web browsers is one example of a DTD. XML promises to expand the formatting capabilities of Web documents by supporting additional DTDs.
5.· Standard Generalized Markup Language, a system for organizing and tagging elements of a document. SGML was developed and standardized by the International Organization for Standards (ISO) in 1986. SGML itself does not specify any particular formatting; rather, it specifies the rules for tagging elements. These tags can then be interpreted to format elements in different ways. SGML is used widely to manage large documents that are subject to frequent revisions and need to be printed in different formats. Because it is a large and complex system, it is not yet widely used on personal computers. However, the growth of Internet, and especially the World Wide Web, is creating renewed interest in SGML because the World Wide Web uses HTML, which is one way of defining and interpreting tags according to SGML rules.