In this paper we present an efficient approach to the analysis of discrete positive singular systems. One of our main objectives is to investigate the problem of characterizing positivity of such systems. Previously, this issue was not completely addressed. We provide easily checkable necessary and sufficient conditions for such problem to be solved. On the other hand, we study the stability of discrete positive singular systems. Note that this is not a trivial problem since the set of admissible initial conditions is not the whole space but it is represented by a special cone. All the conditions we provide are necessary and sufficient and are based on a reliable computational approach via linear programming. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.