Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics

• SOFTWARE ALGORITHM AND SIMULATION • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Analysis of system trustworthiness based on information flow noninterference theory

Xiangying Kong1,2,*, Yanhui Chen2, and Yi Zhuang1   

  1. 1. College of Computer Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China;
    2. Jiangsu Automation Research Institute, Lianyungang 222061, China
  • Online:2015-04-21 Published:2010-01-03

Abstract:

The trustworthiness analysis and evaluation are the bases of the trust chain transfer. In this paper the formal method of trustworthiness analysis of a system based on the noninterference (NI) theory of the information flow is studied. Firstly, existing methods cannot analyze the impact of the system states on the trustworthiness of software during the process of trust chain transfer. To solve this problem, the impact of the system state on trustworthiness of software is investigated, the run-time mutual interference behavior of software entities is described and an interference model of the access control automaton of a system is established. Secondly, based on the intransitive noninterference (INI) theory, a formal analytic method of trustworthiness for trust chain transfer is proposed, providing a theoretical basis for the analysis of dynamic trustworthiness of software during the trust chain transfer process. Thirdly, a prototype system with dynamic trustworthiness on a platform with dual core architecture is constructed and a verification algorithm of the system trustworthiness is provided. Finally, the monitor hypothesis is extended to the dynamic monitor hypothesis, a theorem of static judgment rule of system trustworthiness is provided, which is useful to prove dynamic trustworthiness of a system at the beginning of system construction. Compared with previous work in this field, this research proposes not only a formal analytic method for the determination of system trustworthiness, but also a modeling method and an analysis algorithm that are feasible for practical implementation.