Optimal Internet Worm Treatment Strategy Based on the Two-Factor Model

The security threat posed by worms has steadily increased in recent years. This paper discusses the application of the optimal and sub-optimal Internet worm control via Pontryagin's maximum principle. To this end, a control variable representing the optimal treatment strategy for infectious hosts is introduced into the two-factor worm model. The numerical optimal control laws are implemented by the multiple shooting method and the sub-optimal solution is computed using genetic algorithms. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed optimal and sub-optimal strategies. It also provides a theoretical interpretation of the practical experience that the maximum implementation of treatment in the early stage is critically important in controlling outbreaks of Internet worms. Furthermore, our results show that the proposed sub-optimal control can lead to performance close to the optimal control, but with much simpler strategies for long periods of time in practical use.