Delaney Hennes Computer Science
Christian Toonen Biology
TerryJo Leiterman Associate Professor of Mathematics
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Abstract
In 2017, the self-propagating malware (SPM) WannaCry spread to over 200,000 devices around the world, resulting in massive economic losses. An epidemiological model like Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR) can be adapted and applied to understand the dynamics of the spread of a computer virus such as this. The research from Chernikova et al. uses a modification of the classical SIR model by introducing an Infected-Dormant (ID) subpopulation and its rates of change. This SIIDR model effectively predicted real-world transmission rate data of WannaCry, helping determine what conditions make a computer virus “epidemic” and the evaluation of defensive techniques. Through this process, it was determined that the SIIDR model was the most fitting when compared to other compartmental models (SI, SIS, SIR, SIER) when looking at the propagation of the SPM. Although WannaCry is no longer a threat to internet security, other SPM are, showing how models such as these remain relevant to future preventive measures.
