Evaluating formal model verification tools in an industrial context: the case of a smart device life cycle management system

Abstract

The formal verification of the properties of semi-formal models can make it easier to ensure their security and safety. However, this task is generally cumbersome for non-specialists in formal verification, particularly in an industrial context. This paper introduces an evaluation of four formal verification tools on an industrial case, called a Life Cycle Management System (LCMS). This LCMS makes it possible to deploy Product-Service Systems (PSSs) to customers using Systems-on-Chip (SoC). A PSS is a business model in which products and services are tightly connected and whose objective is to optimize the use of products, with a positive environmental impact. A SoC can embed hardware security; however, a LCMS must be secure from end to end, which requires a verification not only of the used protocol (in this case, a blockchain-based protocol), but also of the whole architecture. For that purpose, semi-formal UML models of a LCMS were first specified and designed with their associated properties, then improved in order to be formally verifiable. Despite being more complex, they remain capable of being processed by dedicated tools. In this paper, Verifpal and ProVerif, two formal cryptographic protocol verifiers, are used and evaluated for the cryptographic protocol and AnimUML (developed by one of the authors) and HugoRT, two verification tools for behavior and UML for the architectural model are evaluated. These tools are assessed and compared according to their coverage of properties and state spaces, limitations, and usability for non-specialists. Some limitations of the approach itself are also provided.