A dissemination strategy for immunizing scale-free networks

Abstract

We consider the problem of distributing a vaccine for immunizing a scale-free network against a given virus or worm. We introduce a new method, based on vaccine dissemination, that seems to reflect more accurately what is expected to occur in real-world networks. Also, since the dissemination is performed using only local information, the method can be easily employed in practice. Using a random-graph framework, we analyze our method both mathematically and by means of simulations. We demonstrate its efficacy regarding the trade-off between the expected number of nodes that receive the vaccine and the network's resulting vulnerability to develop an epidemic as the virus or worm attempts to infect one of its nodes. For some scenarios, the new method is seen to render the network practically invulnerable to attacks while requiring only a small fraction of the nodes to receive the vaccine.

References in corpus (10)

• Emergence of scaling in random networks
• Statistical mechanics of complex networks
• The structure and function of complex networks
• Error and attack tolerance of complex networks
• Epidemic spreading in scale-free networks
• Random graphs with arbitrary degree distributions and their applications
• Resilience of the Internet to random breakdowns
• Breakdown of the Internet under intentional attack
• Efficient Immunization Strategies for Computer Networks and Populations
• Efficient local strategies for vaccination and network attack

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Epidemic processes in complex networks
• Modeling the dynamical interaction between epidemics on overlay networks
• Efficient Response to Cascading Disaster Spreading
• Optimal Allocation of Resources for Suppressing Epidemic Spreading on Networks
• Reactive immunization on complex networks
• Descents and nodal load in scale-free networks
• Reachability and recoverability of sink nodes in growing acyclic directed networks