KEYMEX: An expert system for the design of key management schemes

This paper deals with the development of KEYMEX; an expert system for the design of key management schemes. The main task of KEYMEX is the detection of possible weaknesses in key management schemes. An outline of the structure of the system, which is based on semantical networks, is presented. The way in which the knowledge concerning the key management schemes to be tested is incorporated in the knowledge base of the expert system is discussed. Finally, the performance of the system is assessed on the basis of results which are obtained by application of the system to some well-known key management schemes and protocols.