Modeling Malware Propagation Dynamics and Developing Prevention Methods in Wireless Sensor Networks

Modeling malware propagation dynamics and developing prevention methods are very imperative with flourishing and advancement of WSN technologies in a variety of fields, such as smart cities. In the last decade, a lot of effort has been put into designing effective models to characterize the propagation dynamics of malware and developing effective prevention methods, with different focuses such as spatial–temporal model, pulse immunization, trade-off model between prevention cost and network utility, etc. This chapter reviews the state-of-the-art malware modeling and prevention method to present a comprehensive guide on how to choose a more appropriate approach for different applications. First, the application background and definitions of WSNs and malware are introduced, followed by the challenges of modeling malware propagation dynamics and developing prevention methods. Second, the recent advances in modeling and prevention methods are summarized. Third, four recently published papers that focus on spatial–temporal modeling, pulse immunization, and cost-efficiency trade-off are introduced. Finally, this chapter is ended by pointing out some possible future research directions.