A predicate calculus logic for the PKI trust model analysis

Abstract

We propose a logic-based approach for reasoning about (public-key infrastructure) PKI trust models. Our formalism uses the predicate calculus language to describe a PKI trust model with greater precision than the widely used graph. It allows us to formalize the certificates and the statements about entities beliefs with regard to public key authenticity and certification authority's (CA's) trustworthiness. In this formalism, we take into account the number of CAs that have participated in an entity belief, the trust level in a statement and the policies constraints. By using this approach, we can verify the suitability of a model to applications with particular requirements.