Finite-State Analysis of Security Protocols

John C. Mitchell

Abstract: Several approaches have been developed for analyzing security protocols. These include specialized logics that formalize notions such as secrecy and belief, special-purpose automated tools for cryptographic protocol analysis, and methods that apply general theoremproving or model-checking tools to security protocols. This short document, written to accompany the author's invited lecture, provide background information and references on finite-state methods that use standard model-checking tools.