The dramatic increase of network services through the new paradigms such as cloud computing, Internet of Things, Industry 4.0, critical infrastructures protection, etc. makes it necessary to develop methodologies, tools and technologies to guarantee the security of digital data, processes and networks against cyberattacks. The latter are becoming more and more sophisticated, evolving to advanced persistent threats, which are oftentimes based on different specimens of malware (ransomware, zero-day malware, etc.)

Although the scientific approach to combat malware is mainly focused on the design of efficient methods to detect all types of malware, the design and computational implementation of mathematical models to simulate its spreading is also a very important task. These models allow us not only to predict the behavior of the evolution of malware, but also to study the efficacy of different possible countermeasures. As a consequence, these analytical tools could play a very important role in the forensic computing and cybercrime investigation as new techniques for the security operation centers.

The main purpose of this special issue is to provide both theoreticians and practitioners with a forum to present their research work on the design, analysis and practical implementation of theoretical models for malware spreading and control. The objective is to investigate theoretical and practical aspects and design new applications in this research area. We especially welcome original research papers related to this topic. Moreover, high-quality review articles describing the current state-of-the-art are also welcomed.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

● Deterministic models for malware spreading.
● Stochastic models for malware spreading.
● Individual-based models and agent-based models for malware spreading.
● Network models for malware spreading.
● Mathematical analysis of malware spreading models.
● Control malware spreading
• Relationship between infectious diseases models and malware models.
• Virus source identification algorithm
• Data-driven modeling of malware propagation
• Computational implementation and software tools.

Submission Deadline: February 23, 2018
Publication Date: July 2018

Papers are published upon acceptance, regardless of the Special Issue publication date.

Lead Guest Editor
Angel Martín del Rey, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
delrey@usal.es

Guest Editors

Lu-Xing Yang, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
ylx910920@gmail.com

Vasileios A. Karyotis, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Grecee
vassilis@netmode.ntua.gr