Multi-Protocol Attacks: A Survey of Current Research

Traditionally, verification methods for security protocols typically assume that the protocols are used in isolation of other protocols (i.e., there is only a single protocol using a network at a given time). However, in practice it is unrealistic to assume that a security protocol runs in isolation in an insecure network. A multi-protocol attack is an attack in which more than one protocol is involved. The verification methods for security protocols that assume a single protocol on a network will fail to verify a protocol’s resistance/vulnerability to multi-protocol attacks. Further, multiple security protocols that are verified to be correct in isolation can be susceptible to multiprotocol attacks when used over the same network. However, the verification of security properties for multiple protocols existing on the same network is difficult since security properties are not compositional. This paper surveys some of the recent approaches and contributions into the verification of security properties in the context of multiple protocols being run in an insecure network and the efforts to prevent multi-protocol attacks.