Can you infect me now?

Abstract

In this paper we evaluate the effects of malware propagating usingcommunication services in mobile phone networks. Although self-propagating malware is well understood in the Internet, mobile phone networks have very different characteristics in terms of topologies, services, provisioning and capacity, devices, and communication patterns. To investigate malware in this new environment, we have developed an event-driver simulator that captures the characteristics and constraints of mobile phone networks. In particular, the simulator models realistic topologies and provisioned capacities of the network infrastructure, as well as the contactgraphs determined by cell phone address books. We evaluate the speedand severity of random contact worms in mobile phone networks, characterize the denial-of-service effects such worms could have on the network, investigate approaches to accelerate malware propagation, and discuss the implications of defending networks against such attacks.