Anomaly Detection Through Statistics-Based Machine Learning For Computer Networks

Abstract

The intrusion detection in computer networks is a complex research problem, which requires the understanding of computer networks and the mechanism of intrusions, the configuration of sensors and the collected data, the selection of the relevant attributes, and the monitor algorithms for online detection. It is critical to develop general methods for data dimension reduction, effective monitoring algorithms for intrusion detection, and means for their performance improvement. This dissertation is motivated by the timely need to develop statistics-based machine learning methods for effective detection of computer network anomalies.Three fundamental research issues related to data dimension reduction, control charts design and performance improvement have been addressed accordingly. The major research activities and corresponding contributions are summarized as follows:(1) Filter and Wrapper models are integrated to extract a small number of the informative attributes for computer network intrusion detection. A two-phase analyses method is proposed for the integration of Filter and Wrapper models. The proposed method has successfully reduced the original 41 attributes to 12 informative attributes while increasing the accuracy of the model. The comparison of the results in each phase shows the effectiveness of the proposed method.(2) Supervised kernel based control charts for anomaly intrusion detection. We propose to construct control charts in a feature space. The first contribution is the use of multi-objective Genetic Algorithm in the parameter pre-selection for SVM based control charts. The second contribution is the performance evaluation of supervised kernel based control charts.(3) Unsupervised kernel based control charts for anomaly intrusion detection. Two types of unsupervised kernel based control charts are investigated: Kernel PCA control charts and Support Vector Clustering based control charts. The applications of SVC based control charts on computer networks audit data are also discussed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.Although the developed methodologies in this dissertation are demonstrated in the computer network intrusion detection applications, the methodologies are also expected to be applied to other complex system monitoring, where the database consists of a large dimensional data with non-Gaussian distribution.