Quantifying topological robustness of networks under sustained targeted attacks

In this paper, we introduce a measure to analyse the structural robustness of complex networks, which is specifically applicable in scenarios of targeted, sustained attacks. The measure is based on the changing size of the largest component as the network goes through disintegration. We argue that the measure can be used to quantify and compare the effectiveness of various attack strategies. Applying this measure, we confirm the result that scale-free networks are comparatively less vulnerable to random attacks and more vulnerable to targeted attacks. Then we analyse the robustness of a range of real world networks, and show that most real world networks are least robust to attacks based on betweenness of nodes. We also show that the robustness values of some networks are more sensitive to the attack strategy as compared to others. Furthermore, robustness coefficient computed using two centrality measures may be similar, even when the computational complexities of calculating these centrality measures may be different. Given this disparity, the robustness coefficient introduced potentially plays a key role in choosing attack and defence strategies for real world networks. While the measure is applicable to all types of complex networks, we clearly demonstrate its relevance to social network analysis. © 2013, Springer-Verlag Wien.