Security protocol notation: Difference between revisions
imported>Citation bot Alter: title, template type. Add: chapter-url, series, chapter. Removed or converted URL. Removed parameters. Some additions/deletions were parameter name changes. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Headbomb | #UCB_toolbar |
imported>InternetArchiveBot Rescuing 1 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.9.5 |
||
| Line 31: | Line 31: | ||
| url-status=dead | | url-status=dead | ||
| archive-date=2017-08-15 | | archive-date=2017-08-15 | ||
}}</ref> Some authors consider the notation used by Steiner, Neuman, & Schiller<ref> | }}</ref> Some authors consider the notation used by Steiner, Neuman, & Schiller<ref>{{cite conference | ||
{{cite conference | |last1 = Steiner | ||
| last1 = Steiner | |first1 = J. G. | ||
| first1 = J. G. | |last2 = Neuman | ||
| last2 = Neuman | |first2 = B. C. | ||
| first2 = | |last3 = Schiller | ||
| last3 = | |first3 = J. I. | ||
| first3 = J. I. | |date = February 1988 | ||
|date=February 1988 | |title = Kerberos: An Authentication Service for Open Network Systems | ||
| title = Kerberos: An Authentication Service for Open Network Systems | |conference = Usenix | ||
| conference = Usenix | |book-title = Proceedings of the Winter 1988 Usenix Conference | ||
| book-title = Proceedings of the Winter 1988 Usenix Conference | |publisher = USENIX Association | ||
| publisher = USENIX Association | |location = Berkeley, CA | ||
| location = Berkeley, CA | |pages = 191–201 | ||
| pages = 191–201 | |url = http://clifford.neuman.name/publications/1988/198802-Usenix-Kerberos/198802-Usenix-Steiner-Neuman-Schiller-Kerberos.pdf | ||
| url = http://clifford.neuman.name/publications/1988/198802-Usenix-Kerberos/198802-Usenix-Steiner-Neuman-Schiller-Kerberos.pdf | |access-date = 2009-06-10 | ||
| access-date = 2009-06-10 | |archive-date = 2010-08-06 | ||
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100806141601/http://clifford.neuman.name/publications/1988/198802-Usenix-Kerberos/198802-Usenix-Steiner-Neuman-Schiller-Kerberos.pdf | |||
|url-status = dead | |||
}}</ref> as a notable reference.<ref> | }}</ref> as a notable reference.<ref> | ||
{{cite book | {{cite book | ||
Latest revision as of 07:43, 19 December 2025
Template:Short description In cryptography, security (engineering) protocol notation, also known as protocol narrations[1] and Alice & Bob notation, is a way of expressing a protocol of correspondence between entities of a dynamic system, such as a computer network. In the context of a formal model, it allows reasoning about the properties of such a system.
The standard notation consists of a set of principals (traditionally named Alice, Bob, Charlie, and so on) who wish to communicate. They may have access to a server S, shared keys K, timestamps T, and can generate nonces N for authentication purposes.
A simple example might be the following:
This states that Alice intends a message for Bob consisting of a plaintext X encrypted under shared key KA,B.
Another example might be the following:
This states that Bob intends a message for Alice consisting of a nonce NB encrypted using public key of Alice.
A key with two subscripts, KA,B, is a symmetric key shared by the two corresponding individuals. A key with one subscript, KA, is the public key of the corresponding individual. A private key is represented as the inverse of the public key.
The notation specifies only the operation and not its semantics — for instance, private key encryption and signature are represented identically.
We can express more complicated protocols in such a fashion. See Kerberos as an example. Some sources refer to this notation as Kerberos Notation.[2] Some authors consider the notation used by Steiner, Neuman, & Schiller[3] as a notable reference.[4]
Several models exist to reason about security protocols in this way, one of which is BAN logic.
Security protocol notation inspired many of the programming languages used in choreographic programming.