Special Issues
Table of Content

Advances in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for Intrusion Detection Systems

Submission Deadline: 15 January 2026 View: 1784 Submit to Special Issue

Guest Editors

Dr. Ateeq Ur Rehman

Email: 202411144@gachon.ac.kr

Affiliation: School of Computing, Gachon University, Seongnam-si, 13120, Republic of Korea

Homepage:

Research Interests: atificial intelligence, cybersecurity, big data


Prof. Habib Hamam

Email: habib.Hamam@umoncton.ca

Affiliation: Faculty of Engineering, Uni de Moncton, Moncton, NB, E1A3E9, Canada

Homepage:

Research Interests: artificial intelligence-based design


Prof. Salil Bharany

Email: salil.bharany@gmail.com

Affiliation: Chitkara University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Chitkara University, Punjab, 140401,India

Homepage:

Research Interests: cybersecurity, AI-bioinspired


Dr. Tehseen Mazhar

Email: tehseenmazhar719@gmail.com

Affiliation: School of Computer Science, National College of Business Administration and Economics, Lahore, 54000, Pakistan

Homepage:

Research Interests: machine learning, cloud computing, blockchain


Summary

For years, designing intrusion detection systems (IDS) that can handle rising traffic and new cyberattacks has been a challenge. Though there has been significant advancement in this area, however, there is still a need of modern, robust and advanced machine learning techniques to detect previously unknown threads with higher accuracy.

An efficient intrusion detection system is essential since technological advancements embark on new kinds of attacks and security limitations. Traditional IDS models may perform poorly with modern datasets that better reflect network traffic patterns. Class imbalance, attack type representation, and precise traffic classification make creating realistic datasets difficult. Recent advances in network intrusion detection have been made by integrating machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) models. Advanced AI/ML models can automatically identify traffic features connected to intrusions at multiple abstraction layers, even in massive data volumes.

The scope of this special issue is to improve AI/ML intrusion detection models' complexity, applicability, flexibility, and explainability. We also accept papers that propose novel algorithms, techniques, or methodologies to enhance the detection of new and evolving intrusions. Additionally, we encourage submissions that provide high-quality datasets to address the challenges of class imbalance, attack type representation, and precise traffic classification.

We invite high-quality, original research papers and review articles addressing, but not limited to, the following topics:
·AI-Enhanced Network Intrusion Detection Techniques
·Explainable Machine Learning Models for Cybersecurity
·Hybrid and Ensemble Methods for Threat Detection
·Intrusion Detection in IoT and Cloud Environments
·Deep Learning Architectures for Anomaly and Signature-Based Detection
·Creation and Use of Benchmark Datasets for IDS
·Real-Time and Scalable Intrusion Detection Systems


Keywords

Intrusion detection system, Machine learning, Deep learning, Cybersecurity, Advances in artificial intelligence.

Published Papers


  • Open Access

    ARTICLE

    X-MalNet: A CNN-Based Malware Detection Model with Visual and Structural Interpretability

    Kirubavathi Ganapathiyappan, Heba G. Mohamed, Abhishek Yadav, Guru Akshya Chinnaswamy, Ateeq Ur Rehman, Habib Hamam
    CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2025.069951
    (This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for Intrusion Detection Systems)
    Abstract The escalating complexity of modern malware continues to undermine the effectiveness of traditional signature-based detection techniques, which are often unable to adapt to rapidly evolving attack patterns. To address these challenges, this study proposes X-MalNet, a lightweight Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) framework designed for static malware classification through image-based representations of binary executables. By converting malware binaries into grayscale images, the model extracts distinctive structural and texture-level features that signify malicious intent, thereby eliminating the dependence on manual feature engineering or dynamic behavioral analysis. Built upon a modified AlexNet architecture, X-MalNet employs transfer learning to… More >

  • Open Access

    ARTICLE

    FRF-BiLSTM: Recognising and Mitigating DDoS Attacks through a Secure Decentralized Feature Optimized Federated Learning Approach

    Sushruta Mishra, Sunil Kumar Mohapatra, Kshira Sagar Sahoo, Anand Nayyar, Tae-Kyung Kim
    CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2025.072493
    (This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for Intrusion Detection Systems)
    Abstract With an increase in internet-connected devices and a dependency on online services, the threat of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks has become a significant concern in cybersecurity. The proposed system follows a multi-step process, beginning with the collection of datasets from different edge devices and network nodes. To verify its effectiveness, experiments were conducted using the CICDoS2017, NSL-KDD, and CICIDS benchmark datasets alongside other existing models. Recursive feature elimination (RFE) with random forest is used to select features from the CICDDoS2019 dataset, on which a BiLSTM model is trained on local nodes. Local models… More >

  • Open Access

    ARTICLE

    Advanced AI-Driven Cybersecurity Solutions: Intelligent Threat Detection, Explainability, and Adversarial Resilience

    Kirubavathi Ganapathiyappan, Kiruba Marimuthu Eswaramoorthy, Abi Thangamuthu Shanthamani, Aksaya Venugopal, Asita Pon Bhavya Iyyappan, Thilaga Manickam, Ateeq Ur Rehman, Habib Hamam
    CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2025.070067
    (This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for Intrusion Detection Systems)
    Abstract The growing use of Portable Document Format (PDF) files across various sectors such as education, government, and business has inadvertently turned them into a major target for cyberattacks. Cybercriminals take advantage of the inherent flexibility and layered structure of PDFs to inject malicious content, often employing advanced obfuscation techniques to evade detection by traditional signature-based security systems. These conventional methods are no longer adequate, especially against sophisticated threats like zero-day exploits and polymorphic malware. In response to these challenges, this study introduces a machine learning-based detection framework specifically designed to combat such threats. Central to… More >

  • Open Access

    ARTICLE

    Graph-Based Intrusion Detection with Explainable Edge Classification Learning

    Jaeho Shin, Jaekwang Kim
    CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.86, No.1, pp. 1-26, 2026, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2025.068767
    (This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for Intrusion Detection Systems)
    Abstract Network attacks have become a critical issue in the internet security domain. Artificial intelligence technology-based detection methodologies have attracted attention; however, recent studies have struggled to adapt to changing attack patterns and complex network environments. In addition, it is difficult to explain the detection results logically using artificial intelligence. We propose a method for classifying network attacks using graph models to explain the detection results. First, we reconstruct the network packet data into a graphical structure. We then use a graph model to predict network attacks using edge classification. To explain the prediction results, we… More >

  • Open Access

    ARTICLE

    Advances in Machine Learning for Explainable Intrusion Detection Using Imbalance Datasets in Cybersecurity with Harris Hawks Optimization

    Amjad Rehman, Tanzila Saba, Mona M. Jamjoom, Shaha Al-Otaibi, Muhammad I. Khan
    CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.86, No.1, pp. 1-15, 2026, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2025.068958
    (This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for Intrusion Detection Systems)
    Abstract Modern intrusion detection systems (MIDS) face persistent challenges in coping with the rapid evolution of cyber threats, high-volume network traffic, and imbalanced datasets. Traditional models often lack the robustness and explainability required to detect novel and sophisticated attacks effectively. This study introduces an advanced, explainable machine learning framework for multi-class IDS using the KDD99 and IDS datasets, which reflects real-world network behavior through a blend of normal and diverse attack classes. The methodology begins with sophisticated data preprocessing, incorporating both RobustScaler and QuantileTransformer to address outliers and skewed feature distributions, ensuring standardized and model-ready inputs.… More >

  • Open Access

    ARTICLE

    GSLDWOA: A Feature Selection Algorithm for Intrusion Detection Systems in IIoT

    Wanwei Huang, Huicong Yu, Jiawei Ren, Kun Wang, Yanbu Guo, Lifeng Jin
    CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.86, No.1, pp. 1-24, 2026, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2025.068493
    (This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for Intrusion Detection Systems)
    Abstract Existing feature selection methods for intrusion detection systems in the Industrial Internet of Things often suffer from local optimality and high computational complexity. These challenges hinder traditional IDS from effectively extracting features while maintaining detection accuracy. This paper proposes an industrial Internet of Things intrusion detection feature selection algorithm based on an improved whale optimization algorithm (GSLDWOA). The aim is to address the problems that feature selection algorithms under high-dimensional data are prone to, such as local optimality, long detection time, and reduced accuracy. First, the initial population’s diversity is increased using the Gaussian Mutation More >

  • Open Access

    ARTICLE

    A Genetic Algorithm-Based Double Auction Framework for Secure and Scalable Resource Allocation in Cloud-Integrated Intrusion Detection Systems

    Siraj Un Muneer, Ihsan Ullah, Zeshan Iqbal, Rajermani Thinakaran
    CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.85, No.3, pp. 4959-4975, 2025, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2025.068566
    (This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for Intrusion Detection Systems)
    Abstract The complexity of cloud environments challenges secure resource management, especially for intrusion detection systems (IDS). Existing strategies struggle to balance efficiency, cost fairness, and threat resilience. This paper proposes an innovative approach to managing cloud resources through the integration of a genetic algorithm (GA) with a “double auction” method. This approach seeks to enhance security and efficiency by aligning buyers and sellers within an intelligent market framework. It guarantees equitable pricing while utilizing resources efficiently and optimizing advantages for all stakeholders. The GA functions as an intelligent search mechanism that identifies optimal combinations of bids More >

  • Open Access

    ARTICLE

    An Auto Encoder-Enhanced Stacked Ensemble for Intrusion Detection in Healthcare Networks

    Fatma S. Alrayes, Mohammed Zakariah, Mohammed K. Alzaylaee, Syed Umar Amin, Zafar Iqbal Khan
    CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.85, No.2, pp. 3457-3484, 2025, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2025.068599
    (This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for Intrusion Detection Systems)
    Abstract Healthcare networks prove to be an urgent issue in terms of intrusion detection due to the critical consequences of cyber threats and the extreme sensitivity of medical information. The proposed Auto-Stack ID in the study is a stacked ensemble of encoder-enhanced auctions that can be used to improve intrusion detection in healthcare networks. The WUSTL-EHMS 2020 dataset trains and evaluates the model, constituting an imbalanced class distribution (87.46% normal traffic and 12.53% intrusion attacks). To address this imbalance, the study balances the effect of training Bias through Stratified K-fold cross-validation (K = 5), so that… More >

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