Network anomaly detection using deep learning techniques

Abstract Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are the specific architecture of feed‐forward artificial neural networks. It is the de‐facto standard for various operations in machine learning and computer vision. To transform this performance towards the task of network anomaly detection in cyber‐security, this study proposes a model using one‐dimensional CNN architecture. The authors' approach divides network traffic data into transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), and OTHER protocol categories in the first phase, then each category is treated independently. Before training the model, feature selection is performed using the Chi‐square technique, and then, over‐sampling is conducted using the synthetic minority over‐sampling technique to tackle a class imbalance problem. The authors' method yields the weighted average f ‐score 0.85, 0.97, 0.86, and 0.78 for TCP, UDP, OTHER, and ALL categories, respectively. The model is tested on the UNSW‐NB15 dataset.