Vector Based Genetic Algorithm to optimize predictive analysis in network security

A new Intrusion Detection System (IDS) for network security is proposed making use of a Vector-Based Genetic Algorithm (VBGA) inspired by evolutionary approaches. The novelty in the algorithm is to represent chromosomes as vectors and training data as matrices. This approach allows multiple pathways to calculate fitness function out of which one particular methodology is used and tested. The proposed method uses the overlap of the matrices with vector chromosomes for model building. The fitness of the chromosomes is calculated from the comparison of true and false positives in test data. The algorithm is flexible to train the chromosomes for one particular attack type or to detect the maximum number of attacks. The VBGA has been tested on two datasets (KDD Cup-99 and CTU-13). The proposed algorithm gives high detection rate and low false positives as compared to traditional Genetic Algorithm. A detailed comparative analysis is given of proposed VBGA with the traditional string-based genetic algorithm on the basis of accuracy and false positive rates. The results show that vector based genetic algorithm provides a significant improvement in detection rates keeping false positives at minimum.