Epidemic Spreading in Scale-Free Networks

TLDR

Scale‑free network structure of the Internet enables efficient communication but also facilitates rapid spread of computer viruses. The study develops a dynamical model of infection spread on scale‑free networks to demonstrate the absence of an epidemic threshold and its critical behavior. The authors analyze real computer virus infection data to estimate the average lifetime and persistence of viral strains on the Internet. The model reproduces observed virus data, shows no epidemic threshold, and offers a framework that could explain spreading in communication and social networks.

Abstract

The Internet has a very complex connectivity recently modeled by the class of scale-free networks. This feature, which appears to be very efficient for a communications network, favors at the same time the spreading of computer viruses. We analyze real data from computer virus infections and find the average lifetime and persistence of viral strains on the Internet. We define a dynamical model for the spreading of infections on scale-free networks, finding the absence of an epidemic threshold and its associated critical behavior. This new epidemiological framework rationalizes data of computer viruses and could help in the understanding of other spreading phenomena on communication and social networks.