A Survey on Epidemiological Propagation Models of Botnets

Botnets pose great challenges in defending against cyber threats, as they consist of networks of many infected machines that can be controlled by other entities in order to conduct different types of attacks. Studying botnets evolution and behavior may help in analyzing the effectiveness of the mechanisms used to combat these threats. To this end, many researchers approached the method of modeling and simulating botnets. Concerning the propagation process, current models can be classified in theoretical control models and epidemiological models. This paper comprises a review of five malware epidemiological propagation models, along with a brief analysis of each model, using actual data provided by reports and studies on certain botnets that may be studied using the respective model. The contribution of this work consists in providing a guided tour through some of the previously proposed epidemilogical propagation models, analyzing their applicability and limitations, in order to identify parameters that should be considered in improving propagation modeling.