Applying Epidemiology in Computer Virus Prevention: Prospects and Limitations

The impact of a widespread computer virus infection can be profound. Using a biological analogy, computer virus epidemiology develops a theoretical model to predict the rate and extent of propagation of a computer virus infection. This paper describes the prevalence of computer viruses, and surveys several related research works in this field. Furthermore, we describe the significance of applying epidemiological models in computer virus protection and prevention, and discuss their implication in developing anti-virus technologies and policies. We conclude that, despite its limitations, the epidemiological models bring new hope for solving the computer virus problems.