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International Conference on Theorem Proving in Higher Order Logics

TPHOLs 2009: Theorem Proving in Higher Order Logics pp 180–195Cite as

Formalising Observer Theory for Environment-Sensitive Bisimulation

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 5674))

Abstract

We consider a formalisation of a notion of observer (or intruder) theories, commonly used in symbolic analysis of security protocols. An observer theory describes the knowledge and capabilities of an observer, and can be given a formal account using deductive systems, such as those used in various “environment-sensitive” bisimulation for process calculi, e.g., the spi-calculus. Two notions are critical to the correctness of such formalisations and the effectiveness of symbolic techniques based on them: decidability of message deduction by the observer and consistency of a given observer theory. We consider a formalisation, in Isabelle/HOL, of both notions based on an encoding of observer theories as pairs of symbolic traces. This encoding has recently been used in a theory of open bisimulation for the spi-calculus. We machine-checked some important properties, including decidability of observer deduction and consistency, and some key steps which are crucial to the automation of open bisimulation checking for the spi-calculus, and highlight some novelty in our Isabelle/HOL formalisations of decidability proofs.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Logic and Computation Group, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia

    Jeremy E. Dawson & Alwen Tiu

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  1. Jeremy E. Dawson
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  2. Alwen Tiu
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Informatik, Technische Universität München, Boltzmannstraße 3, 85748, Garching, Germany

    Stefan Berghofer , Tobias Nipkow , Christian Urban  & Makarius Wenzel , ,  & 

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Dawson, J.E., Tiu, A. (2009). Formalising Observer Theory for Environment-Sensitive Bisimulation. In: Berghofer, S., Nipkow, T., Urban, C., Wenzel, M. (eds) Theorem Proving in Higher Order Logics. TPHOLs 2009. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 5674. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03359-9_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03359-9_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-03358-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-03359-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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