Tendering is a method for entering into a sales contract. Numerous electronic tendering systems have been established with the intent of improving the efficiency of the tendering process. Although providing adequate security services is a desired feature in an e-tendering system, current e-tendering systems are usually designed with little consideration of security and legal compliance. This research focuses on designing secure protocols for e-tendering systems. It involves developing methodologies for establishing security requirements, constructing security protocols and using formal methods in protocol security verification. The implication is that it may prove suitable for developing secure protocols in other electronic business domains. In depth investigations are conducted into a range of issues in relation to establishing generic security requirements for e-tendering systems. The outcomes are presented in a form of basic and advanced security requirements for e-tendering process. This analysis shows that advanced security services are required to secure e-tender negotiation integrity and the submission process. Two generic issues discovered in the course of this research, functional difference and functional limitations, are fundamental in constructing secure protocols for tender negotiation and submission processes. Functional difference identification derives advanced security requirements. Functional limitation assessment defines how the logic of generic security mechanisms should be constructed. These principles form a proactive analysis applied prior to the construction of security protocols. Security protocols have been successfully constructed using generic cryptographic security mechanisms. These protocols are secure e-tender negotiation integrity protocol suite, and secure e-tender submission protocols. Their security has been verified progressively during the design. Verification results show that protocols are secure against common threat scenarios. The primary contribution of this stage are the procedures developed for the complex e-business protocol analysis using formal methods. The research shows that proactive analysis has made this formal security verification possible and practical for complex protocols. These primary outcomes have raised awareness of security issues in e-tendering. The security solutions proposed in the protocol format are the first in e-tendering with verifiable security against common threat scenarios, and which are also practical for implementation. The procedures developed for securing the e-tendering process are generic and can be applied to other business domains. The study has made improvements in: establishing adequate security for a business process; applying proactive analysis prior to secure protocol construction; and verifying security of complex e-business protocols using tool aided formal methods.