Specification Languages for Information-Flow


In the research area of language-based information-flow control
the development of information-flow analyses and corresponding
tools is one major research topic. As a prerequisite for such
analyses, the desired information-flow requirements need to
made explicit in some form or another. For this purpose, most
tools use their own, tool-dependent specification language that
is tailored to their specific needs. While the usage of such
tool-dependent languages simplifies the work for the developers
of the analyses, it also prevents the sharing of examples or
comparison of the tools on a common example base. To tackle this
problem a common language that can be used by several
information-flow analysis tools is a desirable asset. For the
development or improvement of such a common language the
understanding of existing languages as well as the derivation
of essential requirements for such a language is a necessary
step.

This talk presents the results of a literature review for
specification languages for information-flow requirements.
The results are threefold: 1) A set of dimensions that can be
used as a basis for comparing specification languages for
information-flow requirements, 2) a categorization of existing
specification languages for information-flow requirements in the
presented dimensions, and 3) a list of requirements that a
specification language for information-flow requirements should
fulfill to be usable in practice.