M3: Holistic Layered Assurance

Layered Assurance, in simple terms, proposes the idea to build assured systems from compositions of previously assured components. The term "layered" reflects the composition of assured components, incremental certification, and abstraction layers. MILS is one approach to achieving the goals of compositional assurance and provides compositional system construction and assurance, leveraging individually developed and assured components to predict and assure the properties of composite systems.

Distributed MILS for Dependable Information and Communication Infrastructures (D-MILS), a European Seventh Framework Programme ICT Project has recently concluded and provides tools and extensions to MILS in order to span a networked infrastructure. In general, D-MILS is a component-based approach to development high-assurance safety- and security-critical distributed systems. Starting with a system model to verify critical properties of the composition of its operational components, allows implementing the model on a platform composed of assured resource-sharing foundational components.

This course takes a holistic approach from the perspective of a use case partner to explain the basic principles of layered assurance and the advances, particularly in security and assurance, made on the D-MILS project.

Participants will hear about:

• Voice and data communication in air traffic management (as evaluation use case)
• Layered assurance approach based on a communication demonstrator
• Declarative language (MILS-AADL) for modelling distributed systems
• Verifi­cation tools to prove security and dependability properties of a model
• D-MILS Platform components (SK, MILS Console, MILS Network)
• Tools to automate the development of an assurance case and to generate confi­gurations for platform components
• Use case deployment and evaluation results (practical examples)

Moreover, the course gives an outlook on the continuation of the use case on the current CITADEL project.

Prerequisites.

• Basic knowledge in IP communication

1. Introduction: (40 min)
   • ATM voice and data communication
   • Tower / remote tower scenarios and facilities
   • Development and safety assessment
   • Safety and security requirements
2. D-MILS Components and Architecture: (1 hour)
   • Layered assurance approach
   • Platform tools
   • Platform components
     • separation kernel
     • MILS console
     • MILS network
   • Putting everything together
3. Deployment and Evaluation: (1 hour)
   • D-MILS step-by-step deployment
   • Performance characteristics
   • Media processing
   • Network quality
4. Conclusion and Outlook: (20 min)
   • Achievements
   • Challenges
   • Future (CITADEL)

About the Instructor:

As Principal at Frequentis, Wolfgang Kampichler is actively contributing to innovation and technical expertise for future communication technologies in Europe and abroad. In this role, he is a recognized expert and speaker at industry and customer events addressing topics related to communications in safety critical domains. He is an engineer by profession. Wolfgang started his career as a research assistant at the Department of Computer Science (Vienna University of Technology) and was awarded with the degree of Doctor in technical sciences in 2002. Since then he has acquired expertise in communications and represents Frequentis with his profound knowledge to support standardization working groups in public safety and air traffic management. He is Frequentis delegate to EUROCAE WG67 (Telephony Subgroup Leader) and contributes to European funded research projects like D-MILS and CITADEL.