Epidemic Heterogeneity and Hierarchy: A Study of Wireless Hybrid Worm Propagation

With the growth in the use of smart mobile devices and the development of information technologies, worms and malware can spread from mobile networks into heterogeneous and hierarchical networks. Thus, the spread of these worms constitutes an increasing potential threat. For understanding the propagation of the aforementioned wireless hybrid worms, current researches have three critical problems: Structural simplification of network topologies (previous research object for wireless worms is the mobile network), Homogenous population of network devices (properties of network devices are the same), and Inaccuracy of propagation models (traditional deterministic differential or stochastic difference models cannot model propagation of wireless hybrid worms accurately). To address them, we propose a novel compartmental population-based propagation model oriented towards heterogeneous and hierarchical networks with human behaviors, and then study the impacts of user mobility and operation behaviors on worm propagation. Meanwhile, we conduct extensive simulations to show our model can characterize propagation features accurately. The results in this paper not only provide a deep understanding of new worm propagation, but also serve as fundamental defense guidelines.