BiologicalModelsofSecurityforVirusPropagationin.pdfVIP

Biological Models of Security for Virus Propagation in Computer Networks Sanjay Goel Stephen F. Bush Abstract This article discusses the similarity between propag ation of pathoge ns (viruses and worms) on computer networks with prolife ration of pathogens in cellular organisms (org anisms with genetic material contained within a membrane encased nucleus). It intro duces several biological mechanisms that are used in these orga nisms to protect against suchpathog ens andpre sents security models for networked comp uters inspired by biological paradig ms. Models for computer security can be based on several different biolog ical paradigms, including, genomics (RNA Interference), proteomics (pathway mapping) a ndp hysiology (Im mune System). In a ddition, the study of dise ase control under the rubric of epidemiological models can inspire models for controlling the spread of pathogens across multiple nodes of a network. The pape r discusses these models and presents results based on the authors’ research in immune system modeling. Introduction The analogy of computers and communication networks with living organisms is an enticing paradigm that researchers have been exploring for some time. Fred Cohen (1984) first put the word “computer virus” into print, although within the paper he credits Len Adleman with coining the term used to describe the malicious pieces of code that can proliferate on a network and infect disparate computers. Since then, advances in bioinformatics1 have helped to more precisely define these analogies to the point where results in bioinformatics can often be leveraged for use in computer networking and security. The challenges faced in