A research study submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology

Research Studies Project Report (M. Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2001

Wireless Application Protocol (W AP) is a new standard for cellular phone systems. It enables cellular phone based usage of Internet-model browsable services and information sources. The cellular platform offers great flexibility for the usage services, making the W APenvironment a very interesting and desirable platform for different electronic value added services. Mobile payment, mobile commerce and other transactional services in wireless world are among the most interesting issues in W AP or Mobile Internet environment. These services have very strict requirements for the security of the systems and for the confidentiality of the data. This work studies the applicability and limitations of W AP for these services. Wireless Application Protocol itself, cryptography and electronic payment systems are discussed as a basis for this research study. The results and improvement proposals are based on current research activities, W AP Forum's recommendations and personal experiences with a commercial WAP gateway. The results include among others introduction of new protocols to the W AP standard, cryptographic library and new APis. Results concentrate specifically in the usage and management of smart cards (e.g. WIM) and in the proposals for application level and end-toend security architectures.