Cybersecurity Investments and Cyberattacks in Watts–Strogatz Networks

Abstract

The rising incidence of cyberattacks underscores the need for effective and cooperative approaches to cybersecurity. This study presents a public-goods-based game-theoretic model to investigate cooperative investment decisions under cyberattack risks within Watts–Strogatz networks. Agents, representing interconnected entities, decide on contributions to a shared defense while facing uncertainty in attack likelihood and severity. The Watts–Strogatz topology allows exploration of network structures from regular lattices to small-world and fully random networks. Simulation results demonstrate that network topology strongly influences both the emergence of cooperation and the rate of successful cyberattacks. Moreover, risk perception interacts with network structure to shape investment behavior and overall system security. These insights inform the design of effective cybersecurity policies in interdependent networked systems.