A SCIRS Model for Malware Propagation in Wireless Networks

The main goal of this work is to propose a novel mathematical model to simulate malware spreading in wireless networks considering carrier devices (those devices that malware has reached but it is not able to carry out its malicious purposes for some reasons: incompatibility of the host’s operative system with the operative system targeted by the malware, etc.) Specifically, it is a SCIRS model (Susceptible-Carrier-Infectious-Recovered-Susceptible) where reinfection and vaccination are considered. The dynamic of this model is studied determining the stability of the steady states and the basic reproductive number. The most important control strategies are determined taking into account the explicit expression of the basic reproductive number.