The robustness of interdependent networks under the interplay between cascading failures and virus propagation

Abstract: Cascading failures and epidemic dynamics, as two successful application realms of network science, are usually investigated separately. How do they affect each other is still one open, interesting problem. In this letter, we couple both processes and put them into the framework of interdependent networks, where each network only supports one dynamical process. Of particular interest, they spontaneously form a feedback loop: virus propagation triggers cascading failures of systems while cascading failures suppress virus propagation. Especially, there exists crucial threshold of virus transmissibility, above which the interdependent networks collapse completely. In addition, the interdependent networks will be more vulnerable if the network supporting virus propagation has denser connections; otherwise the interdependent systems are robust against the change of connections in other layer(s). This discovery differs from previous framework of cascading failure in interdependent networks, where better robustness usually needs denser connections. Finally, to protect interdependent networks we also propose the control measures based on the identification capability. The larger this capability, more robustness the interdependent networks will be.