A novel deep synthesis-based insider intrusion detection (DS-IID) model for malicious insiders and AI-generated threats

Abstract Insider threats pose a significant challenge to IT security, particularly with the rise of generative AI technologies, which can create convincing fake user profiles and mimic legitimate behaviors. Traditional intrusion detection systems struggle to differentiate between real and AI-generat...

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Main Authors: Hazem M. Kotb, Tarek Gaber, Salem AlJanah, Hossam M. Zawbaa, Mohammed Alkhathami
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-01-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-84673-w
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author Hazem M. Kotb
Tarek Gaber
Salem AlJanah
Hossam M. Zawbaa
Mohammed Alkhathami
author_facet Hazem M. Kotb
Tarek Gaber
Salem AlJanah
Hossam M. Zawbaa
Mohammed Alkhathami
author_sort Hazem M. Kotb
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Insider threats pose a significant challenge to IT security, particularly with the rise of generative AI technologies, which can create convincing fake user profiles and mimic legitimate behaviors. Traditional intrusion detection systems struggle to differentiate between real and AI-generated activities, creating vulnerabilities in detecting malicious insiders. To address this challenge, this paper introduces a novel Deep Synthesis Insider Intrusion Detection (DS-IID) model. The model employs deep feature synthesis to automatically generate detailed user profiles from event data and utilizes binary deep learning for accurate threat identification. The DS-IID model addresses three key issues: it (i) detects malicious insiders using supervised learning, (ii) evaluates the effectiveness of generative algorithms in replicating real user profiles, and (iii) distinguishes between real and synthetic abnormal user profiles. To handle imbalanced data, the model uses on-the-fly weighted random sampling. Tested on the CERT insider threat dataset, the DS-IID achieved 97% accuracy and an AUC of 0.99. Moreover, the model demonstrates strong performance in differentiating real from AI-generated (synthetic) threats, achieving over 99% accuracy on optimally generated data. While primarily evaluated on synthetic datasets, the high accuracy of the DS-IID model suggests its potential as a valuable tool for real-world cybersecurity applications.
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spelling doaj-art-bb0ed3ef4b3a4ceeba78ba8dcaf4a6532025-01-05T12:20:25ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-01-0115111410.1038/s41598-024-84673-wA novel deep synthesis-based insider intrusion detection (DS-IID) model for malicious insiders and AI-generated threatsHazem M. Kotb0Tarek Gaber1Salem AlJanah2Hossam M. Zawbaa3Mohammed Alkhathami4The Institute of Cancer ResearchSchool of Science, Engineering, and Environment, University of SalfordCollege of Computer and Information Sciences, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU)Faculty of Computers and Artificial Intelligence, Beni-Suef UniversityCollege of Computer and Information Sciences, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU)Abstract Insider threats pose a significant challenge to IT security, particularly with the rise of generative AI technologies, which can create convincing fake user profiles and mimic legitimate behaviors. Traditional intrusion detection systems struggle to differentiate between real and AI-generated activities, creating vulnerabilities in detecting malicious insiders. To address this challenge, this paper introduces a novel Deep Synthesis Insider Intrusion Detection (DS-IID) model. The model employs deep feature synthesis to automatically generate detailed user profiles from event data and utilizes binary deep learning for accurate threat identification. The DS-IID model addresses three key issues: it (i) detects malicious insiders using supervised learning, (ii) evaluates the effectiveness of generative algorithms in replicating real user profiles, and (iii) distinguishes between real and synthetic abnormal user profiles. To handle imbalanced data, the model uses on-the-fly weighted random sampling. Tested on the CERT insider threat dataset, the DS-IID achieved 97% accuracy and an AUC of 0.99. Moreover, the model demonstrates strong performance in differentiating real from AI-generated (synthetic) threats, achieving over 99% accuracy on optimally generated data. While primarily evaluated on synthetic datasets, the high accuracy of the DS-IID model suggests its potential as a valuable tool for real-world cybersecurity applications.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-84673-w
spellingShingle Hazem M. Kotb
Tarek Gaber
Salem AlJanah
Hossam M. Zawbaa
Mohammed Alkhathami
A novel deep synthesis-based insider intrusion detection (DS-IID) model for malicious insiders and AI-generated threats
Scientific Reports
title A novel deep synthesis-based insider intrusion detection (DS-IID) model for malicious insiders and AI-generated threats
title_full A novel deep synthesis-based insider intrusion detection (DS-IID) model for malicious insiders and AI-generated threats
title_fullStr A novel deep synthesis-based insider intrusion detection (DS-IID) model for malicious insiders and AI-generated threats
title_full_unstemmed A novel deep synthesis-based insider intrusion detection (DS-IID) model for malicious insiders and AI-generated threats
title_short A novel deep synthesis-based insider intrusion detection (DS-IID) model for malicious insiders and AI-generated threats
title_sort novel deep synthesis based insider intrusion detection ds iid model for malicious insiders and ai generated threats
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-84673-w
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