Skip to main content

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 12065))

Abstract

We develop a lightweight approach to information flow control that interacts with the use of cryptographic schemes. The language is a version of Dijkstra’s Guarded Commands language extended with parallelism, communication and symmetric cryptography. Information flow is modelled using security labels that are sets of hashed symmetric keys expressing the capabilities needed for access to data. In essence, encryption is used to encapsulate the protection offered by the information flow policy. We develop a type system aimed at tracking explicit, implicit, bypassing and correlation flows arising due to the parallel processes and the internal non-determinism inherent in Guarded Commands. The development is facilitated by the parallel processes having disjoint memories and is illustrated on a multiplexer scenario previously addressed using content-dependent information flow policies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. de Moura, L., Bjørner, N.: Z3: an efficient SMT solver. In: Ramakrishnan, C.R., Rehof, J. (eds.) TACAS 2008. LNCS, vol. 4963, pp. 337–340. Springer, Heidelberg (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-78800-3_24

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  2. De Nicola, R., Ferrari, G.L., Pugliese, R.: KLAIM: a kernel language for agents interaction and mobility. IEEE Trans. Softw. Eng. 24(5), 315–330 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. De Nicola, R., et al.: From flow logic to static type systems for coordination languages. Sci. Comput. Program. 75(6), 376–397 (2010)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  4. Denning, D.E.: A lattice model of secure information flow. Commun. ACM 19(5), 236–243 (1976)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  5. Denning, D.E., Denning, P.J.: Certification of programs for secure information flow. Commun. ACM 20(7), 504–513 (1977)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Dijkstra, E.W.: Guarded commands, nondeterminacy and formal derivation of programs. Commun. ACM 18(8), 453–457 (1975)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  7. Fielder, A., Panaousis, E.A., Malacaria, P., Hankin, C., Smeraldi, F.: Decision support approaches for cyber security investment. Decis. Support Syst. 86, 13–23 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Gollmann, D.: Computer Security, 3rd edn. Wiley, Hoboken (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Hankin, C.: Lambda Calculi: a Guide for Computer Scientists. Oxford University Press, Oxford (1994)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  10. Huth, M., Nielson, F.: Static analysis for proactive security. In: Steffen, B., Woeginger, G. (eds.) Computing and Software Science. LNCS, vol. 10000, pp. 374–392. Springer, Cham (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91908-9_19

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  11. Myers, A.C., Liskov, B.: Protecting privacy using the decentralized label model. ACM Trans. Softw. Eng. Methodol. 9(4), 410–442 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Nielson, F., Nielson, H.R.: Atomistic Galois insertions for flow sensitive integrity. Comput. Lang. Syst. Struct. 50, 82–107 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Nielson, F., Nielson, H.R.: Formal Methods: An Appetizer. Springer, Heidelberg (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05156-3. ISBN 9783030051556

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  14. Nielson, F., Nielson, H.R.: Lightweight information flow. In: Boreale, M., Corradini, F., Loreti, M., Pugliese, R. (eds.) Models, Languages, and Tools for Concurrent and Distributed Programming. LNCS, vol. 11665, pp. 455–470. Springer, Cham (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21485-2_25

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  15. Nielson, F., Nielson, H.R., Vasilikos, P.: Information flow for timed automata. In: Aceto, L., Bacci, G., Bacci, G., Ingólfsdóttir, A., Legay, A., Mardare, R. (eds.) Models, Algorithms, Logics and Tools. LNCS, vol. 10460, pp. 3–21. Springer, Cham (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63121-9_1

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  16. Nielson, H.R., Nielson, F.: Content dependent information flow control. J. Log. Algebr. Methods Program. 87, 6–32 (2017)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  17. Pettai, M., Laud, P.: Combining differential privacy and mutual information for analyzing leakages in workflows. In: Maffei, M., Ryan, M. (eds.) POST 2017. LNCS, vol. 10204, pp. 298–319. Springer, Heidelberg (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-54455-6_14

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  18. Volpano, D.M., Irvine, C.E.: Secure flow typing. Comput. Secur. 16(2), 137–144 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Volpano, D.M., Irvine, C.E., Smith, G.: A sound type system for secure flow analysis. J. Comput. Secur. 4(2/3), 167–188 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Yang, F., Hankin, C., Nielson, F., Nielson, H.R.: Predictive access control for distributed computation. Sci. Comput. Program. 78(9), 1264–1277 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Zdancewic, S., Myers, A.C.: Observational determinism for concurrent program security. In: Proceedings of Computer Security Foundations Workshop, CSFW 2003, pp. 29–43 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Flemming Nielson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Nielson, F., Nielson, H.R. (2020). Secure Guarded Commands. In: Di Pierro, A., Malacaria, P., Nagarajan, R. (eds) From Lambda Calculus to Cybersecurity Through Program Analysis. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12065. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41103-9_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics