Analyzing Radial Basis Function Neural Networks for predicting anomalies in Intrusion Detection Systems

Abstract: In the 21st century, information is the new currency. With the omnipresence of devices connected to the internet, humanity can instantly avail any information. However, there are certain are cybercrime groups which steal the information. An Intrusion Detection System (IDS) monitors a network for suspicious activities and alerts its owner about an undesired intrusion. These commercial IDS’es react after detecting intrusion attempts. With the cyber attacks becoming increasingly complex, it is expensive to wait for the attacks to happen and respond later. It is crucial for network owners to employ IDS’es that preemptively differentiate a harmless data request from a malicious one. Machine Learning (ML) can solve this problem by recognizing patterns in internet traffic to predict the behaviour of network users. This project studies how effectively Radial Basis Function Neural Network (RBFN) with Deep Learning Architecture can impact intrusion detection. On the basis of the existing framework, it asks how well can an RBFN predict malicious intrusive attempts, especially when compared to contemporary detection practices.Here, an RBFN is a multi-layered neural network model that uses a radial basis function to transform input traffic data. Once transformed, it is possible to separate the various traffic data points using a single straight line in extradimensional space. The outcome of the project indicates that the proposed method is severely affected by limitations. E.g. the model needs to be fine tuned over several trials to achieve a desired accuracy. The results of the implementation show that RBFN is accurate at predicting various cyber attacks such as web attacks, infiltrations, brute force, SSH etc, and normal internet behaviour on an average 80% of the time. Other algorithms in identical testbed are more than 90% accurate. Despite the lower accuracy, RBFN model is more than 94% accurate at recording specific kinds of attacks such as Port Scans and BotNet malware. One possible solution is to restrict this model to predict only malware attacks and use different machine learning algorithm for other attacks.