Security mechanisms against malicious strategy attacks in the spatial snowdrift game

Abstract

Malicious attacks are a realistic problem that weakens social cooperation. This study investigates malicious strategy attacks with limited strength within the spatial evolutionary snowdrift game. Attackers randomly target cooperators once the cooperation frequency exceeds a threshold. Simulation results reveal that, under the traditional imitation mechanism, malicious attacks suppress cooperation. To address this issue, a weighted memory mechanism and a dynamic recovery security mechanism are proposed. The weighted memory mechanism prioritizes recent interactions by assigning weights to them, enabling rapid responses to emerging threats, while the dynamic recovery mechanism restores cooperation with a defined probability after detecting abnormal attacks. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that this security framework effectively mitigates attack damage and promotes cooperation, particularly under high-intensity attacks.