The robustness of interdependent networks under the interplay between cascading failures and virus propagation

Abstract

Cascading failures and epidemic dynamics, as two successful application realms of network science, are usually investigated separately. How do they affect each other is still an open, interesting problem. In this letter, we couple both processes and put them into the framework of interdependent networks, where each network only supports one dynamical process. Of particular interest, they spontaneously form a feedback loop: virus propagation triggers cascading failures of systems while cascading failures suppress virus propagation (i.e., the interplay between cascading failures and virus propagation, also named CF-VP model). Under this novel model, the interdependent networks will collapse completely if virus transmissibility exceeds a crucial threshold. In addition, only when the network sustaining the epidemic dynamics has a larger average degree, will the interdependent networks become more vulnerable, which is opposite to the observation of traditional cascading models in interdependent networks. To protect interdependent networks we also propose control measures based on the identification capability: a stronger identification capability leads to more robust interdependent networks.