Detection of IoT Botnet Cyber Attacks Using Machine Learning

As of 2018, the number of online devices has outpaced the global human population, a trend expected to surge towards an estimated 80 billion devices by 2024. With the growing ubiquity of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, securing these systems and the data they exchange has become increasingly complex, especially with the escalating frequency of IoT botnet attacks (IBA). The extensive data quantity and pervasive availability provided by these devices present a lucrative prospect for potential hackers, further escalating cybersecurity risks. Hence, one of the paramount challenges concerning IoT is ensuring its security. The primary objective of this research project is the development of a robust, machine learning algorithm-based model capable of detecting and mitigating botnet-based intrusions within IoT networks. The proposed model tackles the prevalent security issue posed by malicious bot activities. To optimize the model's performance, it was trained using the BoT-IoT dataset, employing a diverse range of machine learning methodologies, including linear regression, logistic regression, K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), and Support Vector Machine (SVM) models. The efficacy of these models was evaluated using the F-measure, yielding results of 98.0%, 99.0%, 99.0%, and 99.0% respectively. These outcomes substantiate the models' capacity to accurately distinguish between normal and malicious network activities. © 2023 Slovene Society Informatika. All rights reserved.