An Empirical Study of Computer and Internet Security Breaches Using Sparse Data

This study discusses some empirical findings on various computer and Internet-related crimes. An appropriate diffusion model was used that encompassed modeling of two opposite behaviors—imitation and deterrence acts. The model also is adequate for handling sparse data. The model was used to analyze various types of attack. The results shows that different types of attacks follow different types of growth, that increase in imitation is related to an increase in deterrence, and that imitation rates are much higher than deterrence rates. Model validation results are also included.