Abstract
The Internet has a very complex connectivity recently modeled by the class of scale-free networks. This feature, which appears to be very efficient for a communications network, favors at the same time the spreading of computer viruses. We analyze real data from computer virus infections and find the average lifetime and persistence of viral strains on the Internet. We define a dynamical model for the spreading of infections on scale-free networks. finding the absence of an epidemic threshold and its associated critical behavior. This new epidemiological framework rationalizes data of computer viruses and could help in the understanding of other spreading phenomena on communication and social networks.
Keywords
scale-free networks, epidemics, dynamical models
Subject Categories
Internet, Computer viruses
Disciplines
Physics
Publisher
American Physical Society
Publication Date
4-2-2001
Rights Information
©2001 American Physical Society
Rights Holder
American Physical Society
Permanent URL
Recommended Citation
Pastor-Satorras, R and Vespignani, A, "Epidemic spreading in scale-free networks" (2001). Physics Faculty Publications. Paper 200. http://hdl.handle.net/2047/d20002160
Click button above to open, or right-click to save.
Notes
Originally published in Physical Review Letters, v.86 no.14 (2001), pp.3200-3203. DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.3200. Dr. Vespignani is affiliated with Northeastern University as of the time of deposit.