Formal analysis of some secure procedures for certificate delivery

The paper describes and formally analyzes two communication protocols to manage the secure emission of digital certificates. The formal analysis is carried out by means of a software tool for the automatic erification of cryptographic protocols with finite behaviour. The tool is able to discover, at a conceptual level, attacks against security procedures. The methodology is general enough to be applied to several kinds of cryptographic procedures and protocols. It is opinion of the authors that this survey contributes towards a better understanding of the structure and aims of a protocol, both for developers, analyzers and final users