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PhishGuard: A Robust Ensemble Model for Optimal Phishing Website Detection


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PhishGuard, a multi-layered ensemble model, achieves superior phishing website detection performance by combining the strengths of multiple optimized machine learning classifiers, including Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, CatBoost, and XGBoost.
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This research introduces PhishGuard, a customized ensemble model designed for optimal phishing website detection. The key highlights are:

  1. Feature Selection: Advanced feature selection techniques, such as SelectKBest and Recursive Feature Elimination with Cross-Validation (RFECV), were used to identify the most relevant features for phishing detection.

  2. Data Preprocessing: The datasets were balanced using the Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) to address the issue of imbalanced data.

  3. Model Training: Six machine learning algorithms, including Support Vector Machines (SVM), Random Forest (RF), XGBoost (XGB), CatBoost (CB), AdaBoost (AB), and Gradient Boosting (GB), were trained and optimized through hyperparameter tuning.

  4. Ensemble Model: The top-performing models were selected to construct the PhishGuard stacked ensemble, with the best-performing model as the meta-learner and the next three models as base learners.

  5. Evaluation: PhishGuard was tested on four publicly available datasets and consistently outperformed state-of-the-art models, achieving up to 99.05% accuracy on one dataset and similarly high results across the others.

The research demonstrates that the combination of optimized feature selection, data balancing, and ensemble learning can significantly enhance the performance of phishing website detection models, making PhishGuard a robust and effective solution for combating evolving phishing threats.

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The datasets used in this study contain a total of 128,503 URLs, with an equal distribution of phishing and legitimate websites. The number of features across the datasets ranges from 12 to 87, providing a diverse set of characteristics for phishing detection.
Citaten
"PhishGuard consistently outperformed state-of-the-art models, achieving up to 99.05% accuracy on one dataset and similarly high results across the others." "The research demonstrates that the combination of optimized feature selection, data balancing, and ensemble learning can significantly enhance the performance of phishing website detection models."

Belangrijkste Inzichten Gedestilleerd Uit

by Md Sultanul ... om arxiv.org 10-01-2024

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2409.19825.pdf
PhishGuard: A Multi-Layered Ensemble Model for Optimal Phishing Website Detection

Diepere vragen

How can PhishGuard be further improved to handle real-time, dynamic phishing data and adapt to evolving phishing techniques?

To enhance PhishGuard's capability in handling real-time, dynamic phishing data, several strategies can be implemented. First, integrating a continuous learning mechanism would allow the model to update its parameters and adapt to new phishing techniques as they emerge. This could involve using online learning algorithms that can incrementally learn from new data without the need for retraining from scratch. Second, incorporating real-time data feeds from various sources, such as threat intelligence platforms and user reports, can provide PhishGuard with the latest phishing trends and tactics. This would enable the model to adjust its feature set and detection strategies based on the most current threats. Third, implementing anomaly detection techniques could help identify novel phishing attempts that do not conform to known patterns. By leveraging unsupervised learning methods, PhishGuard could flag suspicious activities that deviate from established norms, thus enhancing its detection capabilities. Lastly, enhancing the feature selection process to include features that capture temporal dynamics, such as the frequency of URL changes or the age of a domain, could improve the model's responsiveness to evolving phishing tactics. This would ensure that PhishGuard remains effective against sophisticated phishing schemes that continuously adapt to evade detection.

What are the potential limitations of the ensemble approach used in PhishGuard, and how can they be addressed to ensure robust performance across diverse datasets?

While the ensemble approach in PhishGuard, which combines multiple classifiers, offers improved accuracy and robustness, it also presents certain limitations. One potential limitation is the increased complexity and computational cost associated with training and maintaining multiple models. This can lead to longer training times and higher resource consumption, particularly when dealing with large datasets. To address this, model selection techniques can be employed to identify the most effective classifiers for specific datasets, allowing for a more streamlined ensemble that reduces computational overhead. Additionally, techniques such as model pruning can be utilized to eliminate underperforming models from the ensemble, thereby enhancing efficiency without sacrificing performance. Another limitation is the risk of overfitting, especially if the ensemble is trained on a limited or biased dataset. To mitigate this, cross-validation techniques should be rigorously applied during the training phase to ensure that the model generalizes well to unseen data. Furthermore, incorporating diverse datasets during training can enhance the model's ability to adapt to various phishing scenarios. Lastly, the ensemble's performance may vary across different datasets due to differences in feature distributions. To ensure robust performance, it is crucial to implement adaptive feature selection methods that can dynamically adjust the feature set based on the characteristics of the dataset being analyzed.

Given the increasing prevalence of phishing attacks targeting IoT devices, how can the PhishGuard model be adapted and integrated into IoT security frameworks to provide comprehensive protection?

To adapt PhishGuard for IoT security frameworks, several modifications and integrations can be made. First, the model should be tailored to accommodate the unique characteristics of IoT devices, such as limited processing power and memory constraints. This could involve developing lightweight versions of the classifiers used in PhishGuard, ensuring that they can operate efficiently on resource-constrained devices. Second, integrating PhishGuard with IoT-specific security protocols and frameworks can enhance its effectiveness. For instance, it could be embedded within IoT gateways or edge devices, allowing for real-time phishing detection and response at the network perimeter. This would enable immediate action against detected threats before they can compromise the IoT ecosystem. Third, expanding the feature set to include IoT-specific attributes, such as device type, communication patterns, and user behavior, can improve the model's ability to detect phishing attempts targeting IoT devices. This would require collaboration with IoT manufacturers and developers to gather relevant data and insights. Additionally, implementing a centralized monitoring system that aggregates data from multiple IoT devices can facilitate the detection of coordinated phishing attacks across the network. By analyzing patterns and anomalies in device interactions, PhishGuard can identify potential phishing threats more effectively. Finally, continuous updates and training of the model using data from IoT environments will ensure that PhishGuard remains resilient against evolving phishing tactics targeting IoT devices. This could involve leveraging cloud-based resources for model retraining and updates, allowing for scalability and adaptability in the face of emerging threats.
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