Stability and Immunization Analysis of a Malware Spread Model Over Scale-Free Networks

The spreading dynamics and control of infectious agents primarily depend on the connectivity properties of underlying networks. Here, we investigate the stability of a susceptible- infected-susceptible 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 is studied and compared. The outperformance of proportional and targeted immunization is justified via numerical results.