SAIDR: A New Dynamic Model for SMS-Based Worm Propagation in Mobile Networks

Recently, short message service (SMS) has become one of the most popular applications for mobile users. However, it provides convenience for worms to spread in mobile networks. Due to the differences between computers and smartphones, the current propagation models of computer worms cannot be employed in the mobile network directly, especially in the SMS scenario. In this paper, we propose a worm propagation model based on SMS, named susceptible-affected-infectious-suspended-recovered. To accurately predict the worm propagation via SMS, first, we add the affected state to represent the state of users who have received the messages but have not clicked the malicious links. Second, since an infected node does not always send malicious messages to others, a novel state, the suspended state, is introduced to describe this situation. Furthermore, related stabilities of the worm-free equilibrium and the endemic equilibrium are studied. The worm-free equilibrium is locally and globally asymptotically stable if the basic reproduction number R₀ <; 1, whereas the endemic equilibrium is locally asymptotically stable if R₀ > 1. Finally, comprehensive experiments have been done to support our conclusions and confirm the rationality.