Percolation of localized attack on complex networks
New Journal of Physics, 17 (2):
023049+ (Feb 18, 2015)DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/17/2/023049
Abstract
The robustness of complex networks against node failure and malicious attack
has been of interest for decades, while most of the research has focused on
random attack or hub-targeted attack. In many real-world scenarios, however,
attacks are neither random nor hub-targeted, but localized, where a group of
neighboring nodes in a network are attacked and fail. In this paper we develop
a percolation framework to analytically and numerically study the robustness of
complex networks against such localized attack. In particular, we investigate
this robustness in Erd\Hos-Rényi networks, random-regular networks, and
scale-free networks. Our results provide insight into how to better protect
networks, enhance cybersecurity, and facilitate the design of more robust
infrastructures.