Prof. Massimiliano Ferrara

Università Mediterranea, Calabria, Italy



Title of the paper: Game-Theoretic Evaluation of Blockchain-Based Malware Detection Systems


Abstract: While blockchain technology offers promising solutions for malware detection through decentralized signature sharing, the strategic interactions between malicious actors and security agencies create complex adversarial dynamics that traditional viability assessment methods fail to capture. This paper presents a novel game-theoretic framework that combines multi-dimensional viability analysis with Stackelberg equilibrium theory to evaluate blockchain-based malware detection systems. We model the interaction between certified security agencies and potential attackers as a two-stage Stackelberg game, where agencies strategically choose their signature publication policies while attackers respond by optimizing their malware deployment strategies. Our main contribution is the Blockchain Security Equilibrium Theorem, which proves the existence and uniqueness of Nash-Stackelberg equilibrium in this adversarial setting. Through theoretical analysis and empirical validation using real-world malware data, we demonstrate that our framework provides more accurate viability predictions compared to existing methodologies, offering critical insights for designing robust blockchain-based security solutions.

Bio: Prof. Massimiliano Ferrara is a Full Professor in Mathematical Economics - Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning - Applied Game Theory with the Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, where he was also the Chairman of the Department of Law, Economics & Human Sciences and a Member of the Academic Senate. He is currently a Visiting Professor with the Istanbul OKAN University - Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Research Affiliate with the ICRIOS–Invernizzi Center for Research on Innovation, Organization, Strategy and Entrepreneurship, University Bocconi of Milan, since 2013, and the Scientific Director of the DECISIONS Lab. He has been involved in time a Visiting Professor with Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA, Western Michigan University, USA, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD, USA, Northeastern University di Boston, USA, and recently with the Center for Dynamics of Dresden University of Technology, Germany. He is an author of more than 220 research papers published in peer-reviewed Journals edited by Nature, IEEE, Elsevier, Springer, Wiley and etc. He has been a Knight Order of Merit of the Italian Republic since 2010, “for international scientific merits”. He also received the “Hepites Award” by the Romanian Academy of Science in 2010, the Silver Medal by Universiti PUTRA Malaysia on the occasion of the Invention, Research and Innovation Exhibition (PRPI) in 2016, and recently he has been listed as the 2% top scientists released by Stanford University- Elsevier from 2022. He serves as Editor, Co-Editor, and Associate Editor for several Journals. In particular: NATURE-Scientific Reports (Editorial Board Member), Soft Computing, Dynamic Games and Applications, and so on. He is actually serving as Referee for over 300 international scientific journals in economics, pure and applied mathematics, indexed by SCOPUS, WoS, and MathSciNet.




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