ELASTICITY: Topological Characterization of Robustness in Complex Networks

Just as a herd of animals relies on its robust social structure to survive in the wild, similarly robustness is a crucial characteristic for the survival of a complex network under attack. The capacity to measure robustness in complex networks defines a network’s survivability in the advent of classical component failures and at the onset of cryptic malicious attacks. To date, robustness metrics are deficient and unfortunately the following dilemmas exist: accurate models necessitate complex analysis while conversely, simple models lack applicability to our definition of robustness. In this paper, we define robustness and present a novel metric, elasticity- a bridge between accuracy and complexity-a link in the chain of network robustness. Additionally, we “test-drive” the performance of elasticity on Internet topologies and online social networks, and articulate results.