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Context is key for cybersecurity: leveraging external knowledge for process model explanation via LLMs
Kölbel, Linda Maria, Poss, Leo
and Schönig, Stefan
(2026)
Context is key for cybersecurity: leveraging external knowledge for process model explanation via LLMs.
International Journal of Information Security 25 (4).
Date of publication of this fulltext: 16 Jun 2026 06:26
Article
DOI to cite this document: 10.5283/epub.79662
Abstract
The gap between operational process design and the security regulation requirements represents a critical and underexplored source of cybersecurity risk. Business process models provide structured representations of system behavior but are routinely abstracted from external knowledge, including industry standards, organizational policies, and domain constraints, which are required to assess their ...
The gap between operational process design and the security regulation requirements represents a critical and underexplored source of cybersecurity risk. Business process models provide structured representations of system behavior but are routinely abstracted from external knowledge, including industry standards, organizational policies, and domain constraints, which are required to assess their security posture and verify regulatory compliance. To address this, we propose a Security by Design framework that leverages Large Language Models (LLMs) to systematically integrate structured process models with unstructured external knowledge for automated process explanation and compliance checking. Our approach combines BPMN process models with external security standards (ISO 27001 [International Organization for Standardization and International Electrotechnical Commission. [ISO/IEC 27001:2022] – Information security management systems – Requirements. ISO/IEC, Geneva, Switzerland, 2022. Fourth edition. Available from www.iso.org] and IEC 62443-3-3 [International Electrotechnical Commission. IEC 62443-3-3:2013 – Industrial communication networks – Network and system security – Part 3-3: System security requirements and security levels. IEC, Geneva, Switzerland, 2013. First edition. Available from www.iec.ch]) using a modular prompting architecture. We evaluate the framework using the LLM-as-a-Judge methodology on two real-world Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) use cases, demonstrating accurate, contextually grounded results. We further introduce a four-part error typology to characterize model limitations in compliance-critical settings. While results are promising, human expert validation remains essential for nuanced regulatory interpretation. This work provides a methodological foundation for transparent, proactive cybersecurity by embedding context-aware compliance checks directly into the system design process.
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| Item type | Article | ||||
| Journal or Publication Title | International Journal of Information Security | ||||
| Publisher: | Springer | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open Access Type: | DEAL (Springer Gold) | ||||
| Volume: | 25 | ||||
| Number of Issue or Book Chapter: | 4 | ||||
| Date | 15 June 2026 | ||||
| Institutions | Business, Economics and Information Systems > Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik Business, Economics and Information Systems > Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik > Chair of Process-based Information Systems – Prof. Dr. Stefan Schönig Informatics and Data Science > Department Information Systems > Chair of Process-based Information Systems – Prof. Dr. Stefan Schönig | ||||
| Identification Number |
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| Keywords | Generative Process Intelligence · Large Language Models · Business Process Management · Process Models · Prompt Engineering | ||||
| Dewey Decimal Classification | 000 Computer science, information & general works > 004 Computer science 300 Social sciences > 330 Economics | ||||
| Status | Published | ||||
| Refereed | Yes, this version has been refereed | ||||
| Created at the University of Regensburg | Yes | ||||
| URN of the UB Regensburg | urn:nbn:de:bvb:355-epub-796621 | ||||
| Item ID | 79662 |
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