Scope of TDSC

IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing (TDSC) publishes archival research results focusing on research into foundations, methodologies, and mechanisms that support the achievement–through design, modeling, and evaluation–of systems and networks that are dependable and secure to the desired degree without compromising performance. The focus also includes measurement, modeling, and simulation techniques, and foundations for jointly evaluating, verifying, and designing for performance, security, and dependability constraints.

Topics include, but are not limited to, the following: View TDSC topics.

I. Design for Dependability and Security

Architectures
Fault-tolerant, secure, and safe middleware
Intrusion detection and tolerance
Firewall technologies; authentication and authorization of users, systems, and applications
Network technologies, including protocols, routers, and switches
On-line detection and recovery
System Management and Administration
Cryptography
Application of cryptography techniques
Key management
Cryptographic protocols and algorithms, and their security
Use of COTS components

II. Evaluation

Modeling and Prediction
Threat-assessment and intrusion-detection models
Availability, performability, and survivability
Intrusion tolerance; attack models
Modeling methods, including Markov chains, queuing/fluid flow, Stochastic Petri Nets (SPN), SAN models
Experimental Methods
Monitoring and measurement
Workload characterization
Benchmarking
Test-bed design, including fault, error, attack, and workload generation
Field monitoring and measurement, including failures, security violations and break-ins, and intrusion detection
Statistical methods
Formal Specification and Verification
Quality of Service (encompassing performability, security, and safety)

III. Application-Specific Areas

Survivable Database Design and Transaction Processing
Electronic Commerce
Embedded Systems
File and File System Security
Distributed and Pervasive Systems
Smartcards and Biometrics
Real-Time Systems
Safety-Critical Systems (e.g., aerospace computing)
Internet Applications
Multimedia Applications and Signal-Processing

IV. Software Design

Operating System Support (for error/intrusion detection and/or tolerance)
Self-Checking Software Systems
Dependable, Secure Protocols and Network Interfaces
Software Testing, Validation, and Verification
Software Aging and Rejuvenation
Software Security and Reliability Engineering
V. New Technologies (problems and opportunities)

Nanoscale Computing
Ad Hoc Networks
Pervasive and Embedded Computing
Networks of Satellites
Data Mining
Wearable Computers and Associated Networks
Quantum Computing
Cyber-Physical Systems (e.g., mobile health, Smart Grid, and ITS)

Additional Information

As noted in the Jan-Mar. 2009 editorial, please note the following additional clarification of our scope: "Our Editorial Board decided that papers of purely theoretical interest in the area of cryptography without a clear and manifest application to a specific problem of dependability or security would fall out of the purview of these Transactions; similarly, papers addressing generic systems-management problems, as opposed to specific dependability and security challenges, as well those solving device-level, as opposed to system-level, dependability and security concerns, would also be out of our publication's scope."

TDSC welcomes proposals for topic-oriented special issues. Guidelines are provided here.

In addition to policies specified at Instructions for Peer Review, TDSC specifically has the following policies: (1) Papers which require a major revision will not receive a second major revision recommendation. In such situations the paper will be rejected. Authors should not assume that a major revision will lead to eventual acceptance. (2) The scope of topics was clarified in the editorial of the Jan-Mar 2009 issue as follows. "Our Editorial Board decided that papers of purely theoretical interest in the area of cryptography without a clear and manifest application to a specific problem of dependability or security would fall out of the purview of these Transactions; similarly, papers addressing generic systems-management problems, as opposed to specific dependability and security challenges, as well those solving device-level, as opposed to system-level, dependability and security concerns, would also be out of our publication's scope." (3) TDSC requires meaningful technical novelty in submissions that extend previously published conference papers. Extension beyond the conference version(s) is not simply a matter of length. Thus, expanded motivation, expanded discussion of related work, variants of previously reported algorithms, incremental additional experiments/simulations, proofs of results/theorems, may provide additional length but will fall below the line for proceeding with review.