An evaluation methodology for protocol analysis systems

Abstract

Current day communication systems rely on protocols to provide secure communications among parties. Weaknesses in protocols, at first thought to be secure, have been found through deep analysis. There are many systems that have been designed to provide a means to test the various security characteristics of communication protocols. We present an evaluation methodology that can be used to evaluate protocol analysis systems based on their scope, correctness, performance, and usability characteristics. We apply portions of the methodology to a set of protocol analysis systems to show the evaluation methodology in action.