But before wireless e-commerce or even wireless access to the corporate network takes off, organizations are going to have to nail down wireless security. It's not that wireless isn't secure as it stands now. Rather, wireless security is difficult to implement, requiring organizations to piece together myriad technologies. Few vendors offer a complete security package, and large pieces of the security puzzle are beyond the control of corporate IT, resting instead with carriers and wireless device manufacturers. Mass. So WTLS messages must be converted into SSL before an e-commerce site or corporate network can read them.
Conversion presents a security problem.
Wireless messages travel through the air to the carrier's transmitter, where they are received and passed to a gateway that funnels them into the conventional wired network for transmission to the destination. For a brief moment, the message sits unencrypted inside the gateway, creating a security vulnerability. To some observers, this gap in encryption presents an intolerable threat. Others take a more practical view. The messages spend only a few milliseconds in the clear on a machine buried deep inside the carrier's facility.