Abstract

Connections between individuals (persons, firms, banks, cities and countries) facilitate the exchange of goods, resources and information but they also expose an individual to threats and dangers faced by others.

A key element is that linking activity and investments in security are purposeful and take into account the activities of others. In some contexts threats are random (e.g., biological viruses or liquidity shocks to banks) while in others (e.g., hackers, criminals and military) the threats come from an ``intelligent’’ adversary. As we vary the decision making powers regarding links and security and the nature of the threats, we trace out an ensemble of theoretical scenarios. A network is said to be resilient if it performs `well’ in the face of threats.

1. Develop an economic framework for the study of resilient networks.
2. Develop general methods to solve models of resilience.
3. Apply these methods in applications in epidemiology, infrastructure, security and finance.