Short Paper: Harnessing Emergent Ubiquitous Computing Properties to Prevent Malicious Code Propagation

We introduce a method for harnessing the emergent behaviour of networked devices in a ubiquitous computing setting, with the aim of reducing malicious code propagation. It is not intended as a means of identifying malicious code, but rather reducing the opportunity for it to propagate once identified. At the heart of the method is a correlation between the nodes of a ubiquitous computing network and cells of a cellular automaton using the propagation of trust between devices. The use of cellular automata produces a system that is scalable, requires limited network capacity, allows for reduced resource usage and localises the security threat posed by malicious code; all essential in a ubiquitous computing environment, where we find many devices, but with restricted resources and capabilities.