Security and privacy requirements analysis within a social setting

TLDR

Security issues for software systems ultimately concern relationships among social actors, stakeholders, system users, potential attackers, and the software acting on their behalf. The authors propose a methodological framework for addressing security and privacy requirements using i*, an agent‑oriented requirements modeling language. The framework incorporates attacker analysis, dependency vulnerability analysis, countermeasure analysis, and access control analysis, and it supports model evaluation through qualitative goal‑model analysis and property verification via model checking. The framework is illustrated with an example of security and privacy concerns in the design of agent‑based health information systems.

Abstract

Security issues for software systems ultimately concern relationships among social actors stakeholders, system users, potential attackers - and the software acting on their behalf. We propose a methodological framework for dealing with security and privacy requirements based on i*, an agent-oriented requirements modeling language. The framework supports a set of analysis techniques. In particular, attacker analysis helps identify potential system abusers and their malicious intents. Dependency vulnerability analysis helps detect vulnerabilities in terms of organizational relationships among stakeholders. Countermeasure analysis supports the dynamic decision-making process of defensive system players in addressing vulnerabilities and threats. Finally, access control analysis bridges the gap between security requirement models and security implementation models. The framework is illustrated with an example involving security and privacy concerns in the design of agent-based health information systems. In addition, we discuss model evaluation techniques, including qualitative goal model analysis and property verification techniques based on model checking.