Computer virus propagation models: A mathematical review

Abstract

The physical world has come together by the connection of devices on an extra ordinary level through internet of things. This forms a very complex and dynamic network system and number of heterogeneous device are connected with each other. Physical objects connected in a network, interchange data with other connected devices via communication networks. The data interchange is very helpful in a number of domains in day-to-day life of human beings. Security of connection and data is one of the major challenges for this connection and communication. A computer virus is a potential threat resulting into the damage of connected devices into a network and the data. Epidemic models, similar with biological virus spread models, are widely studied to investigate the behaviour of computer viruses. The primary objective of the article is to categorize a number of computer virus propagation model, so that their comparative studies becomes easier. This article contains a qualitative review and categorization of computer virus propagation models into three categories, namely, compartment model, network model and stochastic model. The study is helpful to further investigate the virus propagation mechanism and to control them optimally.