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Machine Learning for IT Security

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Encyclopedia of Machine Learning and Data Mining
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Definition

The prevalence of information technology (IT) across all segments of society, greatly improves the accessibility of information, however, it also provides more opportunities for individuals to act with malicious intent. Intrusion detection is the task of identifying attacks against computer systems and networks. Based on data/behavior observed in the past, machine learning methods can automate the process of building detectors for identifying malicious activities.

Motivation and Background

Cyber security often focuses on preventing attacks using authentication, filtering, and encryption techniques, but another important facet is detecting attacks once the preventive measures are breached. Consider a bank vault: thick steel doors prevent intrusions, while motion and heat sensors detect intrusions. Prevention and detection complement each other to provide a more secure environment.

How do we know if an attack has occurred or has been attempted? This requires analyzing huge...

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Chan, P.K. (2017). Machine Learning for IT Security. In: Sammut, C., Webb, G.I. (eds) Encyclopedia of Machine Learning and Data Mining. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7687-1_505

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