Our latest paper, “,” is now available online.

In this paper, we present a model-driven approach that explores the relationship between team profiles derived from personas and their potential applications in strategies to support collaborative security design decision-making. Furthermore, we introduce a meta-model that represents group decision-making support and describes how it can be configured at both design time and run time to facilitate the decision-making process. Strategies are constructed or selected during design time and are applied at run time when team members are unable to reach a decision.

This paper was presented at the . See Publications for more details!

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Our paper,”Towards Formal Security Analysis of Deep Neural Network Architectures,” has been published in .

Neural networks are increasingly used in security-critical domains, yet their susceptibility to attacks and manipulation remains a key challenge. In this work, we investigate the use of formal techniques to verify security-related properties of deep neural network architectures, contributing toward more rigorous assurance frameworks for AI-enabled systems.

This is joint work with researchers from and .

See Publications for more details!

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Our latest article published in is now available online. In this paper, we present a game-theoretic approach for selecting effective combinations of security controls based on expected attacker profiles and a set budget. The control selection problem is set up as a two-person zero-sum one-shot game. Valid control combinations for selection are generated using an algebraic formalism to account for dependencies among selected controls. Using a software tool, we apply the approach on a fictional Canadian military system with Canada’s standardized control catalogue, ITSG-33. Through this case study, we demonstrate the approach’s scalability to assist in selecting an effective set of security controls for large systems. The results illustrate how a security analyst can use the proposed approach and supporting tool to guide and support decision-making in the control selection activity when developing secure systems of all sizes. See Publications for more details!

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Check out our latest article “” which is available open access in . This paper presents a security-focused approach to the initialization and secure installation of smart meters compliant with the DLMS (Device Language Message Specification) standard. First, a systematic cybersecurity risk analysis is conducted to identify potential threats and vulnerabilities in the smart meter deployment process. Based on this analysis, three approaches to secure meter initialization are proposed: initialization by a technician during installation, initialization within a secure facility of the Distribution System Operator (DSO), and initialization performed directly by the manufacturer. These approaches are compared in terms of cybersecurity, operational practicality, and the required exchange of sensitive information between the manufacturer and the DSO. The results indicate that certain variants can minimize or entirely eliminate the transfer of sensitive data while maintaining compliance with the DLMS standard, thereby enhancing overall system resilience and trustworthiness. Finally, the proposed approaches are validated in a real DSO environment. This work is the result of a collaboration with our visiting scholar David Kohout and colleagues at in Czechia. See Publications for more details!

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Our latest article published in builds upon the concept of Secure Machine Learning Operations (SecMLOps), providing a comprehensive framework designed to integrate robust security measures throughout the entire ML operations (MLOps) lifecycle. This framework is particularly focused on safeguarding against sophisticated attacks that target various stages of the MLOps lifecycle, thereby enhancing the resilience and trustworthiness of ML applications. Through extensive empirical evaluations, we highlight the trade-offs between security measures and system performance, providing critical insights into optimizing security without unduly impacting operational efficiency. Our findings underscore the importance of a balanced approach, offering valuable guidance for practitioners on how to achieve an optimal balance between security and performance in ML deployments across various domains.See Publications for more details!

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Our recent paper “” is now available online. This work addresses the challenge of maintaining security compliance and traceability in low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite control systems, which must adhere to multiple standards and regulations throughout the system development lifecycle. Existing work focuses on space system resilience but lacks comprehensive methods for compliance traceability. To fill this gap, we adopt a formal model-based systems engineering (MBSE) framework to support compliance checking for LEO satellite control systems. This paper was presented at the . See Publications for more details!

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Our recent paper “” is now available online. In this paper, we introduce an approach to enhance system security during the early design phase, targeting the creation of a system’s behavioural view. We derived two sound security metrics, Critical Element Risk Index (CERI) and Corruption Propagation Potential (CPP). These metrics inform a system’s Behavioural Security Posture (BSP), which we define as a system’s resilience to knowable threats based on its flows, as determined by its security policies and threat model. To best support designers, we expanded on previous work and updated our BSP analysis tool, Dubhe. In this expanded approach, Dubhe (1) identifies threats and mitigation patterns present within UML activity diagrams, (2) calculates a system’s average CERI and CPP through pattern matching and depth-first flow traversal, and (3) presents a system’s BSP to designers, alongside identified threats and recommended mitigation strategies. We demonstrate this approach by applying it to an Online Seller of Merchandise (OSM) system, analyzing a login use case to ensure target security requirements are adequately addressed. Using the information from Dubhe, designers have the tools and support needed to make meaningful security improvements to their systems during the design phase of the SDLC. This paper was presented at the . See Publications for more details!

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Our paper “” is now available online. While there has been significant research on individual XOps, there is a lack of systematic, horizontal analysis across all XOps practices. This paper addresses this gap by conducting a scoping review of XOps literature, focusing on three fundamental research questions: the definition and categorization of XOps, the methodologies used to study their adoption, and the common challenges identified in their implementation. As the first study to systematically address these questions, we propose the XOps conceptualization framework, offering a structured approach to understanding and studying XOps. This framework serves as an initial step toward bringing clarity to the DevOps landscape, providing guidance in uncovering its complexities and laying the foundation for future research and the emergence of new XOps. This paper was presented at the . See Publications for more details!

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Our paper “” is now available online. In this paper, we propose a formal approach to verify some security properties of neural networks. The overall approach goes through three steps: (1) specify security objectives as properties of a modeled neural network in a technology-independent specification language; (2) implement the developed model in a suitable tooled language for analysis; and (3) suggest a set of security requirements necessary to fulfill the targeted security objectives. We use first-order logic and modal logic as abstract and technology independent formalism and Alloy as a tooled language. To validate our work, we explore a set of representative security objectives from the Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability classification in a use case from the unmanned aircraft domain. This paper was presented at the . See Publications for more details!

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Our recent work on “” is now available online. This paper proposes an approach for the design and analysis of secure software architecture in the context of a component-port-connector architecture model and message passing communication. We use the Event-B formal method to create the software architecture model and security in successive steps using the refinement process. We also use proof obligations to verify the security of the successive software architecture models. Furthermore, we use the ProB model-checker and animator for the model validation. This paper was presented at the . See Publications for more details!

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