Specifying Security for Computer Supported Collaborative Working

CSCW systems provide computer support to facilitate cooperation between users. This paper proposes an approach to the formal specification of security requirements for CSCW applications, where a CSCW application is viewed as a collection of activities that users may participate in. The specification approach is straightforward, and can be used to capture a wide variety of security requirements, including integrity and confidentiality. It is illustrated with a case study of a secure electronic examinations system. 1 Introduction The purpose of Computer Supported Collaborative Working (CSCW) is to provide computer support that facilitates collaboration and cooperation between users. This support may be as simple as the provision of electronic mail facilities, giving users the freedom to cooperate in an unstructured manner. It may be as sophisticated as some of the applications in concurrent engineering which exercise a high degree of control over the actions of the participants in an en..