“Incentive Design for Promoting Ridesharing” with Neda Masoud, University of Michigan

Abstract: The Internet of Things (IoT) relies heavily on wireless communication-enabled devices that can discover and interact with other wireless devices in their vicinity. The communication flexibility coupled with software vulnerabilities in devices, due to low cost and short time-to-market, exposes them to a high risk of malware infiltration. An attacker might stealthily gain control over a large number of network devices using device-to-device (D2D) communication in order to launch a coordinated cyber-physical attack resulting in disruption of critical infrastructure facilities, or for malicious purposes such as collecting ransom. In this talk, I will describe an analytical approach to study the D2D propagation of malware in wireless IoT networks. Leveraging tools from dynamic population processes and point process theory, the malware infiltration and coordination process can be studied for a network topology. The analysis of mean-field equilibrium in the population is used for constructing and solving a network defense problem to prevent botnet formation by patching devices while causing minimum overhead to network operation. The proposed methodology serves as a basis for assisting the planning, design, and defense of such networks from a defender’s standpoint.