AI for Cybersecurity: Intrusion Detection Using Neural Networks

The constant growth in the use of computer networks raised concerns about security and privacy. Intrusion attacks on computer networks is a very common attack on internet today. Intrusion detection systems have been considered essential in keeping network security and therefore have been commonly adopted by network administrators. A possible disadvantage is the fact that such systems are usually based on signature systems, which make them strongly dependent on updated database and consequently inefficient against novel attacks (unknown attacks). In this study we analyze the use of machine learning in the development of intrusion detection system.

The focus of this presentation is to analyze the various machine learning algorithms that can be used to perform classification of network attacks. We will also analyze the common techniques used to build and fine tune artificial neural networks for network attack classification and address the drawbacks in these systems. We will also analyze the data sets and the information that is critical for the classification. The understanding of network packet data is essential for the feature engineering, which is an essential precursor activity for any machine learning systems. Finally, we study the drawbacks of existing machine learning systems and walk through the further study possible in this area.