4.9 Research Issues

The critical issue in security policy research is the expression of policy in an easily understood yet precise form. The development of policy languages focuses on supplying mathematical rigor that is intelligible to humans. A good policy language allows not only the expression of policy but also the analysis of a system to determine if it conforms to that policy. The latter may require that the policy language be compiled into an enforcement program (to enforce the stated policy, as DTEL does) or into a verification program (to verify that the stated policy is enforced, as tripwire does). Balancing enforcement with requirements is also an important area of research, particularly in real-time environments.

The underlying role of trust is another crucial issue in policy research. Development of methodologies for exposing underlying assumptions and for analyzing the effects of trust and the results of belief is an interesting area of formal mathematics as well as a guide to understanding the safety and security of systems. Design and implementation of tools to aid in this work are difficult problems on which research will continue for a long time to come.