J. Stat. Mech. (2009) P09005 ournal of Statistical Mechanics: An IOP and SISSA journal J Theory and Experiment Mobile agents aﬀect worm spreading in wireless ad hoc networks Zi-Gang Huang 1 , Sheng-Jun Wang 2 , Xin-Jian Xu 3 , Jin-Tu Sun 1 and Ying-Hai Wang 1 1 School of Physical Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou Gansu 730000, People’s Republic of China 2 Department of Physics, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong 3 Department of Mathematics, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, People’s Republic of China E-mail: huangzg@lzu.edu.cn, wangshjun@gmail.com, xinjxu@shu.edu.cn, jintusun@yahoo.com and yhwang@lzu.edu.cn Received 26 June 2009 Accepted 14 August 2009 Published 10 September 2009 Online at stacks.iop.org/JSTAT/2009/P09005 doi:10.1088/1742-5468/2009/09/P09005 Abstract. Considering the dynamic nature of portable computing devices with wireless communication capability, an extended model is introduced for worm spreading in the wireless ad hoc network, with a population of mobile agents in a planar distribution, starting from an initial infected seed. The eﬀect of agents’ mobility on worm spreading is investigated via extensive Monte Carlo simulations. The threshold behavior and the dynamics of worm epidemics in the wireless networks are greatly aﬀected by both agents’ mobility and spatial and temporal correlations. The medium access control mechanism for the wireless communication promotes the sensitivity of the spreading dynamics to agents’ mobility. Keywords: network dynamics, communication, supply and information networks c 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd and SISSA 1742-5468/09/P09005+11$30.00