Dispatch then stop: Optimal dissemination of security patches in mobile wireless networks

The security threat posed by malware in mobile wireless networks can be countered through immunization using security patches. The distribution of patches however consumes bandwidth which is specially scarce in wireless networks, and must therefore be judiciously controlled in order to attain desired trade-offs between security risks and resource consumption. We consider both non-replicative and replicative dissemination of patches: a pre-determined set of dispatcher nodes distribute the patches in the former, whereas the dispatcher set continually grows in the latter as the nodes that receive the patch become dispatchers themselves. In each case, the desired tradeoffs can be attained by activating at any given time only fractions of dispatchers and selecting their packet transmission rates. We formulate the above trade-offs as optimal control problems that seek to minimize the aggregate network costs that depend on security risks and resource consumed by the countermeasures. We prove ...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: CDC
• Authors: M. H. R. Khouzani, Saswati Sarkar, Eitan Altman
• Keywords: CDC 2010, Consumption Cost Rate, Control Systems, Resource Consumption, Resource Consumption Cost