SC-MLIDS: Fusion-based Machine Learning Framework for Intrusion Detection in Wireless Sensor Networks

This paper proposes the Server–Client Machine Learning Intrusion Detection System (SC-MLIDS), a novel fusion framework designed to enhance security in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), which are inherently vulnerable to various security threats due to their distributed nature and resource constraints . Traditional Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs) often face challenges with high computational demands and privacy issues. SC-MLIDS addresses these problems by integrating Federated Learning (FL) with a multi-sensor fusion approach to implementing two layers of defence that operate independently of specific attack types. Moreover, this framework leverages a server–client architecture to efficiently manage and process data from sensor nodes , sink nodes, and gateways within the network. The core innovation of SC-MLIDS lies in its dual model aggregation algorithms at the gateway: one assesses model performance and weight, while the other uses majority voting to integrate predictions from both client and server models. As a result, this approach reduces redundant data transmissions and enhances detection accuracy, making it more effective than conventional methods in WSNs. Our proposed framework outperforms current state-of-the-art techniques, achieving F1-scores of 99.78% and 98.80% for the two aggregation algorithms, namely, Weighted Score and Majority Voting. This validation demonstrates the effectiveness of SC-MLIDS in providing accurate intrusion detection and robust data management.