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Assessing Internet Viruses Like Human Epidemics

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the beating-the-spread dept.

underpar writes "This ComputerWorld.com article discusses the UCSD's $6.2 million attempt to study Internet viruses in a manner similar to the study of human epidemics. Stefan Savage, a computer science professor, is quoted in the article as saying, 'We'll be focused on what vectors are used, just like in assessing West Nile, to spread computer viruses and ultimately try to develop defenses to prevent them from spreading.'"

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  1. Primary sources... by StefanSavage · · Score: 5, Informative

    FWIW, readers should always understand that when they read a news story they are getting a reporter's interpretation of an interview that itself attempts to simplify a larger story. Inevitably, this means that technical details don't survive the translation. To wit, on the second page of the proposal we write: While it is tempting to repurpose the epidemiological models of infectious disease in humans [29], Internet pathogens are in fact quite different--they are authored by intelligent adversaries. Consequently, traditional stochastic analyses are highly fragile tools for predicting the dynamics or limitations of future outbreaks. For those actually interested in what our center is planning to do, I've made the proposal and the summary available. It also gives some insight into what an NSF grant proposal looks like for those who are curious. - Stefan