One-click formal methods

Abstract

Formal methods have been successfully applied in domains such as microprocessor hardware design and aerospace, e.g., proofs of security properties for helicopter control systems [4]. However, despite 50 years of research and development, we have not seen wide adoption of formal methods for large and complex systems such as web services, industrial automation, or enterprise support software. One of the key difficulties when proving security, safety, and robustness of these systems is the problem of finding the models of system architectures necessary for analysis. Additionally, the size of the potential user community and the business value typically does not justify the creation of scalable and easy-to-use tools for formal verification.