Specifying, comparing and modelling secure transport layers

Chris Dilloway ( OUCL )

Security architectures often make use of secure transport protocols to protect network messages: the transport protocols provide secure channels between hosts. We present a hierarchy of specifications for secure channels, and a framework in which to compare them. The specifications capture a number of different confidentiality and authentication properties that secure channels might satisfy. We use the channel specifications to build abstract models of secure transport layers, and we use these models to analyse security protocols.