Safe and Secure Systems
The central vision of the Formal Methods Group is to consider software development as a formal process that is based on scientific (formal) methods and tools. This requires a fundamental reorientation of how software is developed today.
Until recently, malfunctioning software was at most annoying for its user. In the meantime, however, it has turned out that dependability has become an indispensable prerequisite for critical distributed control systems, pervasive computing, and a global exchange of information. To this end, formal methods allow for safety and security guarantees objectivated by mathematical models and affirmed by corresponding analysis tools. A main focus is the provision of appropriate methodologies and techniques to model, analyze, and verify security requirements in various settings (like in multiagent systems or in the semantic web).
Research issues of the Formal Method Group include formal modeling techniques, interactive deduction methods, and support for the management of artifacts evolving during complex developments. Results from funded research projects (DFG, BMBF, EU) flow into tool development (VSE, MAYA), form the basis for technology transfer (Transfer Center SISO) and serve as a scientific background for security evaluation (PITS).