A Comparison and Combination of Theory Generation and Model Checking for Security Protocol Analysis

Author: Nicholas J. Hopper and Sanjit A. Seshia and Jeannette M. Wing

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Abstract

This paper reviews two relatively new tools for automated formal analyis of security protocols. One applies the formal methods technique of model checking to the task of protocol analysis, while the other utilizes the method of theory generation, which borrows from both model checking and automated theorem proving. For purposes of comparison, the tools are both applied to a suite of sample protocols with known flaws, including the protocol used in an earlier study \cite{KMM} to provide a baseline. We then suggest a heuristic for combining the two approaches to provide a more complete analysis than either approach can provide alone.