Stability and Immunization Analysis of a Malware Spread Model over Scale-Free Networks (original) (raw)

The spreading dynamics and control of infectious agents depend primarily on the connectivity properties of underlying networks. In here, we investigate the stability of the susceptible-infected-susceptible (SIS) epidemic model incorporated with multiple infection stages and propagation vectors to mimic malware behavior over scale-free communication networks. In particular, we derive the basic reproductive ratio (R_0) and provide results for stability analysis at infection-free and infection-chronic equilibrium points. Based on R_0, the effectiveness of four prevailing immunization strategies as countermeasures are studied and compared. The outperformance of proportional and targeted immunization are justified via numerical results.