Influence of Removable Devices' Heterouse on the Propagation of Malware

Xie Han,Yi-Hong Li,Li-Ping Feng,Li-Peng Song

doi:10.1155/2013/296940

Xie Han, Yi-Hong Li + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/296940

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Abstract

The effects of removable devices’ heterouse in different areas on the propagation of malware spreading via removable devices remain unclear. As a result, in this paper, we present a model incorporating the heterogeneous use of removable devices, obtained by dividing the using rate into local area’s rate, neighbour area’s rate and global area’s rate, and then getting the final rate by multiplying the corresponding area ratio. The model’s equilibria and their stability conditions are obtained mathematically and verified by deterministic and stochastic simulations. Simulation results also indicate that the heterogeneity in using rate significantly changes the prospective propagation course of malware. Additionally, the thresholds of removable devices’ using rate in neighbour area are given, which can guide us in designing effective countermalware method.

Highlights

The malicious programs or malware, including network worms, Trojan programs, and various botnets, have posed serious threats to the Internet [1–5]
The basic models used in this paper are the SIR model and the SIS model
When infected devices are used on susceptible or immunized computers, the malicious programs carried by infected devices are likely to be detected

Summary

Introduction

The malicious programs or malware, including network worms, Trojan programs, and various botnets, have posed serious threats to the Internet [1–5]. To capture the influences of removable devices on malware, some mathematical models have been proposed [9–13]. Yang [11] further considered the model where the “exposed” state had limited infection ability. All of these models were homogeneous models. It is not a reasonable assumption that removable devices are homogeneously mixed with computers outside their subnet. Under this assumption, they cannot give an effective defense method concerning removable devices’ using area and rate. We present a heterogeneous model in this paper, which can give an effective countermalware method by exploring the influences of removable devices’ using area and rate.

The Model

Model Analysis

Control Strategies

Conclusion