An efficient immunization strategy for scale-free networks based on random-walk betweenness

A novel and effective immunization strategy for controlling epidemic spreading on scale-free networks is proposed in this paper. It is performed by immunizing edges in proper order according to their weights which are defined as the product of the random-walk betweenness of two nodes of the edge. In contrast to other traditional immunization strategies which mainly focus on how to immunize nodes to control the epidemic spreading, our immunization strategy is more effective in realizing the control of epidemic, moreover, such a strategy can better retain the integrity of scale-free networks.