Analyze the effects of quarantine and vaccination on malware propagation in wireless sensor network

Abstract

Malware (worm, virus, malicious signals, etc.) propagation in Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is one of the important concern. The WSN becomes unstable due to presence of malicious signals. Vulnerability of WSN is very high because of the structural constraint of sensor nodes. The attackers target a sensor node of WSN for malware attack. A single infected node starts to spread the malware in the entire network through neighbouring nodes. Therefore, for controlling of malware propagation in WSN a mathematical model is developed. The developed model is based on epidemic theory. The developed model consist of five states such as Susceptible-Infectious-Quarantine-Vaccination-Dead (SIQVD). The quarantine is a method through which to cease the infection spread in WSN. And through vaccination eliminate the malware from the network. The combination of quarantine and vaccination technique improves the network stability. This technique prevents malware propagation in WSN. The basic reproduction number (R0) of the model is deduced. The stability of the network depends on the value of basic reproduction number. It is found that if the value of is less than one the network system exist in malware-fee state, otherwise in endemic state. The equilibrium points of the system is obtained. The effects of quarantine and vaccination has been analyzed on system performance. The theoretical findings are verified by simulation results. Attack Epidemic model Equilibrium point Malware propagation Security Wireless Sensor Network.