Designing Security Properties-Centric Communication Protocols using a Component-Based Approach

Numerous communication protocols have been designed offering a set of security properties through the use of cryptographic tools to secure electronic document transfer. However, there is no clear match between the tools used and security properties they offer. To solve this problem, the authors propose to use a component-based approach; more specifically the authors introduce the notion of high-level security component where each component provides an atomic security property. This approach will facilitate the design of new protocols that fulfill any specific set of security properties by assembling the appropriate components. At the same time, users using a protocol designed with these security components will have the assurance that the protocol satisfies the security properties required for the electronic document transfer. The authors validate the approach by showing how the integrity property can be added to the HTTP protocol to design a security property-centric HTTPS and in this case an integrity-only HTTPS.