EXPLAINABLE SIGNATURE BASED INTRUSION DETECTION

SYSTEM

A project report submitted to

Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Kakinada, in the partial
Fulfillment for the Award of Degree of

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
IN
COMPUTER SCIENCE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Submitted by
NALLURI DHARANI 21491A0713
PINNIKAHEMALATHA 21491A0715
MAMILAPALLI PAVANKALYAN 21491A0743
GALLA RAVITEJA 21491A0752
SHAIK NISAR 22495A0702

Under the esteemed guidance of

Mrs. P.BULAH PUSHPARANI, M.Tech
Assistant Professor, Department of IT-QISCET

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

QIS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

(AUTONOMOUS)
An ISO 9001:2015 Certified institution, approved by AICTE & Reaccredited by NBA, NAAC ‘A+’ Grade
(Affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada)
VENGAMUKKAPALEM, ONGOLE – 523 272, A.P
2021 - 2025
 QIS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
(AUTONOMOUS)
An ISO 9001:2015 Certified institution, approved by AICTE & Reaccredited by NBA, NAAC ‘A+’ Grade
(Affiliated to Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada)
VENGAMUKKAPALEM, ONGOLE:-523272, A.P
April, 2025

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the technical report entitled “Explainable Signature Based Intrusion
Detection System”is a bonafide work of the following final BTech students in the partial fulfillment
of the requirement for the award of the degree of bachelor of technology in COMPUTER SCIENCE
& INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY for the academic year 2024-2025.

NALLURI DHARANI 21491A0713

PINNIKA HEMALATHA 21491A0715
MAMILAPALLI PAVANKALYAN 21491A0743
GALLA RAVITEJA 21491A0752
SHAIK NISAR 22495A0702

Signature of the guide Signature of Head of Department

Mrs. P. Bulah Pushparani, M.Tech Dr.T.Sunitha, M.Tech, Ph.D

Assistant Professor Associate Professor & HOD

Signature of External Examiner

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

“Task successful” makes everyone happy. But the happiness will be gold
without glitter if we didn’t state the persons who have supported us to make success.

We would to place on record on the deep sense of gratitude to the hon’ble

Secretary & Correspondent Dr. N. SURYA KALYAN CHAKRAVARTHY
GARU,M.Tech.,Ph.D., QIS Group of Institutions, Ongole for providing necessary
facilities to carry the project work.

We express our gratitude to the hon’ble Chairman Sri Dr. N. SRI GAYATRI
GARU, M.B.B.S., M.D.,QIS Group of Institutions, Ongole for his valuable
suggestions and advices in the B. Tech Course.

We express our gratitude to Dr. Y. V. HANUMANTHA RAO, M. Tech, Ph.D.,

Principal of QIS College of Engineering and Technology, Ongole for his valuable
suggestions and advices in the B. Tech Course.

We express our gratitude to the Head of Department of IT, Dr.T.Sunitha, M.

Tech, Ph.D., QIS College of Engineering and Technology, Ongole for his constant
supervision, guidance and co-operation throughout the project.

We express our thankfulness to our project guide Mrs. P. BULAH

PUSHPARANI, M.Tech.,Assistant professor, QIS College of Engineering and
Technology, Ongole for her constant motivation and valuable throughout the project
work.

We would like to express our thankfulness to CSCDE & DPSR for their constant
motivation and valuable help throughout the project.

Finally, we would like to thanks our Parents, Family and Friends for their co-operation
to complete this Project.

Submitted by

NALLURI DHARANI 21491A0713

PINNIKA HEMALATHA 21491A0715
MAMILAPALLI PAVANKALYAN 21491A0743
GALLA RAVITEJA 21491A0752
SHAIK NISAR 22495A0702
 ABSTRACT
Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) play a vital role in safeguarding networks from
malicious activities by identifying unauthorized access and suspicious behavior. This project
presents an Explainable Signature-Based Intrusion Detection System (ESIDS) that combines Chi-
Square feature selection, One-Class Support Vector Machine (OCSVM) for anomaly detection,
and Explainable AI (XAI) techniques to enhance transparency and interpretability.The system
begins by applying Chi-Square (Chi2) feature selection on the KDD Cup 1999 dataset, reducing
the dimensionality from 42 features to 5. This selection improves the model’s efficiency by
retaining only the most relevant attributes for intrusion classification. The OCSVM algorithm is
then employed to detect anomalies by learning the normal patterns of network traffic and
identifying deviations indicative of potential intrusions.To make the detection process
interpretable, the system incorporates SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) values, an XAI
technique, to assign feature importance scores. This ensures that security analysts can understand
which features contributed most to the model's classification decisions, enhancing trust and
transparency.

Keywords: Intrusion Detection System (IDS),Explainable AI (XAI),Signature-Based

Detection, Chi-Square Feature Selection,One-Class Support Vector Machine
(OCSVM),Anomaly Detection,SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP),Network
Security, KDD Cup 1999 Datase
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT III
DECLARATION IV

ABSTRACT V

CHAPTER
1 INTRODUCTION 3-4
1.1 Overview 3
1.2 Problem Statement 3
1.3 Objective
4
1.4 Scope of the Project

CHAPTER
2 LITERATURE SURVEY 5-8
2.1 Overview of Intrusion Detection 5
Systems
2.2 Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) in 5
Security Systems
2.3 Signature-Based Intrusion Detection 6
Systems (SBIDS)
2.4 Explainability in SBIDS 7
2.5 Hybrid and Advanced Models of 8
Explainable SBIDS

CHAPTER
3 SYSTEM ANALYSIS 9-13
3.1 Existing Systems and Their Limitations 9
3.2 Proposed System 10-11
3.3 System Requirements 11-12
3.4 System Study 12-13

CHAPTER
4 SYSTEM DESIGN 14-23
4.1 SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE 14-15
4.2 DATA FLOW DIAGRAMS 16-17
4.3 UML DIAGRAM 18-21
4.4 IMPLEMENTATION MODULES 22-23

CHAPTER
5 SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENT 24-26
5.1 Operating System 24
5.2 Programming Languages 25
CHAPTER

6 EVALUATION AND TESTING 27-30

6.1 Testing Objectives 27-28
6.2 Testing Methods 28-29
6.3 Evaluation Metrics 30

CHAPTER
7 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 31-49
7.1 CODE 31-37
7.2 INPUT & OUTPUT 38-46
7.3 RESULT 47-48
DISCUSSION
7.4 49

CHAPTER
8 FUTURE DEVELOPMENT AND 50-51
CONCLUSION
CHAPTER
9 APPENDIX 52-55
9.1 GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS 52-53
9.2 REFERENCES TO RESEARCH PAPERS 54-55
USED IN THE PROJECT
 LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE TITLE PAGE

NO. NO.
4.1 System Architecture 15

4.2 Context diagram 16

4.3 Data flow diagram 17

4.4 Use case diagram 19

4.5 Class diagram 20

4.6 Sequence diagram 21

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 LIST OF SYMBOLS ANDABBREVIATIONS

Symbol/Abbreviation Full Form/Description

AI Artificial Intelligence

NLP Natural Language Processing

MCQ Multiple-Choice Question

PDF Portable Document Format

TTS Text-to-Speech

UI User Interface

API Application Programming Interface

Flask Python-based web framework

PDFMiner Python library for extracting text from PDFs

SQLite Lightweight database management system

PostgreSQL Advanced relational database management system

F1 Score A measure of accuracy that balances precision and recall

Q&A Question and Answer system

CSS Cascading Style Sheets (used for website design)

HTML Hypertext Markup Language (used for web page structure)

JS JavaScript (used for web page interactivity)

FHE Fully Homomorphic Encryption

Secure Sockets Layer / Transport Layer Security (used for secure

SSL/TLS
communications)

GAN Generative Adversarial Network

CNN Convolutional Neural Network

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 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Overview

In today's hyper-connected world, securing digital assets, sensitive data, and networks is
critical. As cyber threats continue to grow in complexity and sophistication, organizations face the
daunting challenge of defending their infrastructure against a wide range of attacks, including
malware, phishing, denial of service, and more advanced persistent threats. One of the key
technologies used in cybersecurity to detect and prevent these attacks is the Intrusion Detection
System (IDS).

Intrusion Detection Systems play a crucial role in safeguarding networks by monitoring

and analyzing network traffic for suspicious activities. The IDS works by identifying malicious
actions, policy violations, or anomalies that could signify an ongoing attack or vulnerability
exploitation. Among the various types of IDS, the Signature-Based Intrusion Detection System
(SBIDS) is one of the most widely deployed and reliable approaches. SBIDS detects intrusions by
matching network activity against a database of predefined attack patterns, known as signatures,
which represent previously identified threats.

While SBIDS has been proven effective in identifying known attack vectors and detecting
malicious activities based on signature matching, it has certain limitations. The primary
shortcoming lies in its lack of transparency and explainability. Security analysts and network
administrators often receive alerts from SBIDS without sufficient insight into why the system
flagged certain activities as malicious. As a result, they are left with limited information, making
it challenging to verify the validity of alerts, reduce false positives, and understand the root cause
of the detection. Moreover, security teams need to quickly assess the nature and severity of the
threat to respond appropriately, which is often hindered by the lack of clear explanations.

1.2 Problem Statement

To address these limitations, the concept of Explainability has been introduced to enhance
traditional SBIDS. An Explainable Signature-Based Intrusion Detection System (SBIDS) not
only detects threats but also provides detailed insights and justifications behind each detection. By
incorporating explainability, the system can articulate why an alert was triggered, what specific
signature was matched, and how it relates to a particular attack pattern. This transparency helps
security personnel to make faster and more informed decisions, improving their ability to mitigate
threats and respond in real-time.

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1.3 Objective

Explainability in IDSs also plays a vital role in increasing the overall trustworthiness of the
system. In many cases, organizations that rely heavily on automated security systems need to have
confidence that the decisions made by these systems are accurate and reliable. By making the
reasoning behind each detection clear and interpretable, Explainable SBIDS builds that trust,
empowering administrators to audit the system's performance, understand the underlying logic,
and ensure that the alerts are legitimate.

In this documentation, we delve into the architecture, functionality, and benefits of an

Explainable SBIDS, exploring how it can transform traditional IDS by providing understandable,
actionable insights to security teams. The system's ability to detect known threats using signature-
based methods combined with its explainable features enables organizations to improve their
overall security posture while reducing the burden of handling alerts and potential false positives.

The importance of explainability is not only limited to improving operational efficiency

but also extends to areas like compliance, auditing, and regulatory reporting. Security regulations
in various industries now demand accountability and transparency in cybersecurity operations, and
an Explainable SBIDS can help organizations meet these requirements by offering traceable, clear
justifications for the actions taken by the system.

1.4 Scope of the project

This document aims to provide a comprehensive overview of Explainable SBIDS,

highlighting the critical need for transparent and interpretable detection systems in today's
cybersecurity landscape. By integrating explainability into the SBIDS framework, organizations
can enhance their ability to defend against cyber threats while gaining deeper insights into the
security decisions made by their systems. This increased level of transparency and trust can lead
to more effective security measures, quicker response times, and ultimately, a stronger defense
against potential cyberattacks.

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 CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
The literature on Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) and Explainability in security
mechanisms is vast, reflecting the growing importance of detecting cyber threats efficiently and
transparently. This section provides an overview of key research contributions and existing work
in the fields of Signature-Based Intrusion Detection Systems (SBIDS) and explainable artificial
intelligence (XAI), particularly focusing on how explainability can be integrated into IDS to
enhance security operations.

2.1 Overview of Intrusion Detection Systems

Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) have evolved significantly over the years, transitioning
from basic signature-based models to more sophisticated hybrid and explainable systems. The
integration of Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) techniques has enhanced the transparency
and effectiveness of IDS, addressing the limitations of traditional methods.[1]

Between 1994 and 1999, foundational research laid the groundwork for IDS development.
Kumar & Spafford (1994) highlighted the efficiency of signature-based intrusion detection
(SBIDS) in identifying known threats. Around the same time, Denning (1987) introduced
anomaly-based detection, which complemented SBIDS by identifying deviations from normal
behavior.[1] Roesch (1999) developed Snort, a widely adopted open-source IDS,[2] while Paxson
(1999) introduced Bro IDS (now Zeek), a robust tool for network monitoring.[3]

From 2000 to 2007, researchers focused on the advancements and challenges in IDS.
Axelsson (2000) emphasized the limitation of SBIDS in detecting novel threats, and Mell,
Scarfone & Romanosky (2007) identified the increasing difficulty of detecting zero-day attacks.
Patcha & Park (2007) further explored anomaly detection, discussing its potential but also
highlighting its high false-positive rate.[4]

2.2 Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) in Security Systems

Between 2010 and 2016, the shift toward hybrid models and explainability in IDS began.
Sommer & Paxson (2010) documented the persistent issue of false positives in IDS, prompting the
development of improved detection mechanisms. Ahmed et al. (2016) proposed hybrid IDS
models that combined SBIDS with anomaly detection to increase accuracy. Ribeiro et al. (2016)
introduced LIME (Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanations), a framework that enhanced
the transparency of AI-driven security models, influencing the evolution of explainable IDS.[4]

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 The period from 2017 to 2019 saw a significant rise in explainability research for IDS.
Doshi-Velez & Kim (2017) reviewed XAI techniques, including decision trees and rule-based
learning, to improve model interpretability in security applications. Gunning (2017) set forth
guidelines for interpretable AI models, emphasizing their importance in cybersecurity. Gadepally
et al. (2019) studied the need for explainability in IDS to enhance trust and operational efficiency,
while Gilmer et al. (2018) showcased how explainable models improved decision-making in
critical cybersecurity environments.[5]

2.3 Signature-Based Intrusion Detection Systems (SBIDS)

During 2003-2004, performance improvements in SBIDS became a primary focus. Kruegel et

al. (2003) worked on optimizing signature-matching algorithms to enhance efficiency, while Tuck
et al. (2004) introduced Bloom filters to improve pattern matching, reducing computational costs.
Signature-based IDS continued to be refined, with research emphasizing ways to improve
detection rates while maintaining low computational overhead.[4]

• Signature Matching Algorithms: A significant body of work has focused on optimizing

signature matching algorithms to minimize resource consumption and maximize
throughput in high-traffic environments (Kruegel et al., 2003). For example, Tuck et al.
(2004) presented novel data structures like Bloom filters to enhance pattern matching in
large signature databases, which became a widely adopted approach in intrusion detection.
However, the literature consistently highlights the limitation of signature-based systems to
detect only known attack patterns (Axelsson, 2000), which makes them susceptible to
novel or obfuscated attack methods.[4]
• Improving Signature Detection: In response to this limitation, researchers have proposed
hybrid systems combining signature-based and anomaly-based approaches (Vaarandi,
2003). These hybrid IDS leverage the efficiency of signature-based detection while
incorporating anomaly-based techniques to identify zero-day attacks. In the context of
Explainable SBIDS, hybrid models could provide richer insights into both known and
unknown threats by generating understandable reasons for detecting anomalies along with
matched signatures.[4]

2.4 Explainability in SBIDS

From 2020 onward, research on Explainable SBIDS has advanced rapidly. Shearer et al.
(2020) suggested that transparent security models help reduce alert fatigue and improve analyst
efficiency. Lundberg & Lee (2020) applied SHAP (Shapley Additive Explanations) values to IDS,
quantifying feature importance for better decision-making.[6]
Explainability in SBIDS aims to enhance transparency by making detection decisions
interpretable. Gunning et al. (2021) proposed rule extraction techniques to automate explanation

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generation in IDS. Preece et al. (2022) leveraged NLP to generate human-readable explanations
for security alerts, improving administrator response times.

While traditional SBIDS provides an effective mechanism for detecting known threats, it has
long been criticized for operating as a “black box.” Administrators are often presented with alerts
but lack clear information on why specific traffic was flagged as suspicious. The literature points
to several key areas where explainability can enhance SBIDS:

• Transparent Decision-Making: Explainable IDS can improve decision-making by

providing security professionals with insights into the signatures that triggered the alerts
and the features of the network traffic that were critical to the detection. Studies such as
Shearer et al. (2020) argue that security systems that offer explanations can significantly
reduce alert fatigue by filtering out false positives and focusing on meaningful
detections.[6]
• Rule-Based and Feature Importance Explanations: Several authors propose integrating
rule-based explanations into SBIDS (Craven & Shavlik, 1996). These explanations
highlight which rules were matched by the traffic and explain the nature of the attack
associated with the rule. In a similar vein, feature importance explanations (as studied
by Lundberg & Lee, 2017 using SHAP values) can help administrators understand which
features of the network traffic (e.g., IP addresses, port numbers) played a role in the
detection decision.[6]

2.5 Hybrid and Advanced Models of Explainable SBIDS

The integration of explainability in SBIDS is still an emerging area, but there are promising studies
that combine SBIDS with machine learning and XAI techniques:

• Hybrid IDS with Explainability: Research by Shashidhar et al. (2020) explores the
integration of machine learning with traditional SBIDS to enhance detection capabilities
and provide more granular explanations. These hybrid systems are designed to detect novel
attacks using anomaly detection and then generate explanations by comparing the
anomalous traffic to known attack signatures.[5]
• Automated Generation of Explanations: Automated systems that generate explanations
for IDS decisions are also gaining traction in the literature. Contributions such as those
from Gunning et al. (2019) suggest that explainability can be enhanced through rule
extraction techniques and interpretability layers that automatically generate
justifications for each alert based on the underlying rules and signatures.[5]
• Shashidhar et al. (2020) explored hybrid models integrating machine learning with SBIDS
to enhance detection and explainability. Research on automated explanation systems has
gained traction, with Amershi et al. (2023) focusing on AI-assisted decision-making in
cybersecurity to enhance human-AI collaboration. Hybrid SBIDS models combining

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 signature-based and anomaly-based techniques are being developed to provide improved
detection accuracy while maintaining explainability.[5]

2.6 Summary of Literature Survey

The literature highlights the growing need for Explainable Signature-Based Intrusion Detection
Systems (SBIDS) to improve transparency, trust, and effectiveness in detecting cyber threats.
While SBIDS has long been a mainstay in network security, integrating explainability addresses
its shortcomings by providing security teams with actionable, interpretable insights into the
reasoning behind detections. Explainable IDS systems hold great promise in reducing false
positives, enhancing decision-making, and fostering trust in automated security tools. The
research direction is now moving towards combining traditional SBIDS with XAI frameworks to
ensure that these systems are not only effective but also transparent and auditable, aligning with
modern cybersecurity demands.

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 CHAPTER 3
SYSTEM ANALYSIS
System analysis is a critical step in understanding the design, architecture, functionality,
and limitations of any system. In this section, we analyze both the existing system and the
proposed system, outline the necessary system requirements, and conduct a thorough system
study to ensure a clear understanding of how the system will operate and what improvements are
necessary.

3.1 Existing System

The existing system in this context refers to the traditional Signature-Based Intrusion
Detection Systems (SBIDS), which are widely used in the cybersecurity industry for detecting
and mitigating network threats. The existing SBIDS work by comparing incoming network traffic
against a database of predefined attack signatures. If a match is found, the system flags the activity
as potentially malicious and generates an alert.

3.1.1 Limitations of the Existing System

While the existing SBIDS has proven effective in detecting known threats, it suffers from
several limitations:

• Lack of Explainability: The biggest limitation of the current SBIDS is its inability to
explain why a particular alert was triggered. Analysts only see the result (i.e., the alert)
without any justification or reasoning behind it. This leads to a lack of trust in the system
and difficulties in verifying the validity of the alerts.
• Unable to Detect Zero-Day Attacks: The SBIDS relies on a predefined set of signatures
that represent known attacks. Any new or unknown attack (such as zero-day exploits) will
not be detected since no signature exists for it. This makes the system less effective against
emerging threats.
• High False Positives: The existing system often generates a high number of false
positives—alerts that indicate an attack when there is none. These false alarms overwhelm
security teams and make it difficult for them to prioritize real threats.
• Manual Analysis: The lack of explainability means that security analysts must manually
inspect logs and data to verify each alert, which increases their workload and slows down
response times.
• Static Signature Databases: Since SBIDS depends on static databases of attack
signatures, it must be regularly updated with the latest signatures. This reactive approach
leaves a window of vulnerability until updates are applied.

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 3.1.2 Strengths of the Existing System

• Efficiency in Detecting Known Threats: SBIDS is extremely effective in identifying

attacks for which signatures exist, making it a reliable solution for common and previously
identified threats.
• Low Resource Consumption: Compared to anomaly-based systems, signature-based
systems generally consume fewer computational resources, as the process of matching
signatures is straightforward and efficient.
• Ease of Deployment: Signature-based systems are relatively easy to deploy in network
environments and can be integrated with other security infrastructure, such as firewalls and
intrusion prevention systems.

3.2 Proposed System

The Proposed System aims to improve upon the existing SBIDS by introducing the concept
of Explainability to enhance transparency, trust, and effectiveness. The Explainable Signature-
Based Intrusion Detection System (ESBIDS) integrates explainability features into the
traditional signature-based approach, providing detailed and interpretable information about each
detection.

3.2.1 Key Features of the Proposed System

• Explainability of Alerts: The proposed system will provide clear, human-readable

explanations for each detection. It will specify the signature that was matched, the network
traffic attributes that triggered the alert, and the reasoning behind why this traffic was
deemed malicious.
• Improved Trust and Confidence: By offering detailed explanations, security analysts can
better understand the detection process, increasing their confidence in the system's alerts.
They will be able to quickly assess whether an alert is legitimate or a false positive,
reducing unnecessary investigation time.
• Reduced False Positives: The proposed system will reduce the rate of false positives by
combining signature detection with enhanced logic for prioritizing alerts. The inclusion of
explainability will allow analysts to better distinguish between benign and malicious
traffic.
• Detection of Zero-Day Attacks (Hybrid Approach): Although the primary focus is on
signature-based detection, the proposed system may also incorporate elements of anomaly
detection to identify previously unknown attacks. This hybrid approach increases the
system's capacity to deal with emerging threats while still maintaining the efficiency of
signature-based methods.

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 • Automated Explanations Using AI: The system may utilize Explainable AI (XAI)
techniques to automatically generate and present explanations for detected events. Methods
like decision trees, rule-based learning, and feature importance mapping (e.g., SHAP
values) can help explain which characteristics of the traffic matched the malicious
signature.

3.2.2 Advantages of the Proposed System

• Enhanced Transparency: With the integration of explainability, the system becomes

more transparent and auditable, improving operational efficiency and regulatory
compliance.
• Faster Response Times: Detailed explanations provided for each detection enable analysts
to act quickly and decisively, leading to faster incident response and mitigation.
• Improved Security Posture: By combining signature-based detection with hybrid
approaches and providing deeper insights into attacks, the proposed system strengthens the
organization’s ability to defend against both known and unknown threats.
• User-Friendly Interface: The system will be designed to be more intuitive for security
analysts, providing easy-to-understand reports, alerts, and dashboards that visualize the
reasons behind detections.

3.3 System Requirements

In order to implement the Explainable Signature-Based Intrusion Detection System

(ESBIDS), several hardware, software, and environmental requirements must be met. These
requirements ensure that the system runs efficiently and integrates seamlessly into the existing
network infrastructure.

3.3.1 Hardware Requirements

• Processor: Multi-core processor with high performance (e.g., Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen
7) to handle real-time network traffic analysis.
• Memory: Minimum of 16GB RAM to ensure smooth operation, with more recommended
for environments with large traffic volumes.
• Storage: High-speed SSDs with at least 1TB of storage to store signatures, logs, and event
data.
• Network Interface: High-speed network interface cards (NICs) capable of handling large
volumes of traffic at gigabit or higher speeds.

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 3.3.2 Software Requirements

• Operating System: Linux-based OS (e.g., Ubuntu, CentOS) for stable and secure
deployment, although other OS environments (e.g., Windows) may also be supported.
• Database: Relational database management systems (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL) for
storing signature databases, event logs, and explanations.
• IDS Software: Existing SBIDS software (e.g., Snort, Suricata) which will be augmented
with explainability modules.
• Explainability Frameworks: XAI libraries such as LIME, SHAP, or Sklearn for
integrating machine learning models and generating explanations.
• Visualization Tools: Tools like Grafana or Kibana for visualizing alerts, logs, and
explanations on dashboards.

3.3.3 Environmental Requirements

• Network Topology: The system should be placed at key points in the network architecture,
such as between the firewall and internal network, or monitoring multiple points for better
visibility.
• Regular Updates: Regular updating of the signature database and explainability models is
essential to ensure that the system remains capable of detecting new and emerging threats.

3.4 System Study

A system study helps to analyze the feasibility, operational requirements, and potential
impacts of the proposed system. This includes a thorough understanding of how the system
interacts with existing infrastructure and how it improves upon the current security posture.

3.4.1 Feasibility Study

• Technical Feasibility: The proposed system relies on existing SBIDS technology, which
is widely supported. The addition of explainability modules can be achieved using well-
established XAI frameworks, making the technical implementation feasible with existing
resources.
• Economic Feasibility: While the initial cost of integrating explainability features may
require investment in development and training, the long-term savings in terms of reduced
false positives, quicker response times, and enhanced security far outweigh the initial costs.
• Operational Feasibility: The system will be user-friendly, designed to integrate with
existing IDS infrastructure, and provide additional value through its explainability features
without significantly increasing the operational burden.

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3.4.2 Security and Risk Study

• Improved Incident Response: The proposed system enhances incident response by

reducing the time required to assess alerts, enabling security teams to respond more
efficiently.
• False Positive Reduction: By explaining the reasons behind detections, analysts can more
easily distinguish between true positives and false positives, minimizing alert fatigue.
• Threat Detection Coverage: The hybrid approach of the proposed system expands
coverage to include known attacks (through signatures) and unknown threats (through
anomaly detection), providing comprehensive network protection.

3.4.3 Usability Study

• Analyst-Friendly Interface: The system will offer intuitive explanations, visualizations,

and reports, making it easier for security analysts to understand alerts and take action.
• Training and Learning Curve: Security personnel will require some training to fully
leverage the system’s explainability features, but the interface will be designed to minimize
the learning curve and facilitate quick adoption.

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 CHAPTER 4
SYSTEM DESIGN
The System Design phase focuses on defining the architecture, components, modules, and
interfaces for the Explainable Signature-Based Intrusion Detect ion System (ESBIDS). This
section provides a detailed view of how the system is structured, how data flows through the
system, and how various components interact using diagrams and modular breakdowns.

4.1 System Architecture

The system architecture of the Explainable Signature-Based Intrusion Detection System

(ESBIDS) is designed to integrate the traditional signature-based detection system with
explainability features. It involves several layers and modules working together to ensure accurate
detection, efficient performance, and transparent reasoning behind alerts.

4.1.1 Key Components of System Architecture

1. Traffic Monitoring Layer:

o Network Traffic Collector: Captures real-time network traffic data for analysis.
This component is responsible for receiving network packets from various sources
in the network.
o Packet Preprocessing: Filters and preprocesses the captured traffic to extract
relevant data fields, such as source/destination IP, ports, protocols, etc.
2. Signature Matching Layer:
o Signature Database: A repository of known attack signatures, updated regularly
to include new attack patterns.
o Signature Matching Engine: Compares the preprocessed network traffic against
the known signatures stored in the signature database. If a match is found, an alert
is generated.
3. Explainability Layer:
o Explanation Generator: Provides explanations for each detection event,
indicating which signature was matched and why the particular network traffic was
flagged as malicious.
o XAI Framework (LIME/SHAP): The explainability layer utilizes Explainable AI
frameworks such as LIME or SHAP to further explain feature importance and
provide human-readable explanations of the decisions.
4. Alert Management and Visualization Layer:
o Alert Processor: Processes the alerts generated by the Signature Matching Engine
and prepares them for presentation.

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 oExplanation Dashboard: Displays detailed explanations and visualizations of
detection events, including matched signatures, associated traffic features, and
contextual reasoning for the alert.
o Log Management: Logs all traffic data, detection events, and explanations for
audit and review.
5. Anomaly Detection (Optional - Hybrid Approach):
o This layer involves an optional anomaly detection system that works in conjunction
with the signature-based system. It uses machine learning models to identify
unknown or zero-day attacks and provides corresponding explanations when
anomalies are detected.

System Architecture Diagram

The architecture can be visualized as a multi-layered structure with various components

interacting to ensure real-time detection and explainability. The traffic monitoring and
preprocessing happen in the first layer, signature matching in the second layer, explanations in
the third layer, and user interaction (alerts/visualizations) in the final layer.

Fig 4.1 System Architecture Design

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4.2 Data Flow Diagrams (DFD)

Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs) provide a graphical representation of the flow of data within the
system. It helps to understand how data moves from input (network traffic) to output (explanations
and alerts) and how various processes handle the data.

4.2.1 Level 0: Context Diagram

The Level 0 DFD (Context Diagram) represents the system as a single process and outlines its
interaction with external entities.

• External Entities:
o Network Traffic Source: Inputs real-time network traffic data into the system.
o Security Analyst: Receives alerts, explanations, and visualizations from the
system.
o Signature Database Source: Supplies updated signatures to the system
periodically.

Fig 4.2 Context Diagram

Data Flow:

• Network traffic flows into the system, which processes the data to generate alerts and
explanations. The results are then sent to the security analyst for further investigation.

4.2.2 Level 1: Detailed DFD

The Level 1 DFD provides more details on the internal processes of the system, showing how
data is handled at each stage.

• Process 1: Traffic Collection and Preprocessing:

o Network traffic is collected and preprocessed to extract necessary data fields.
• Process 2: Signature Matching:

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 o The preprocessed traffic is compared against the known attack signatures stored in
the database. If a match is found, it triggers the next process.
• Process 3: Explanation Generation:
o The matched signature and network data are processed by the explanation
generator, which creates a human-readable explanation for the detection.
• Process 4: Alert Processing and Visualization:
o The alert processor formats the detection and explanation into a structured alert
message, which is visualized on the dashboard for the security analyst.

Fig 4.3 Data Flow Diagram Livel-1

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 This diagram represents the workflow of an Explainable Signature-Based Intrusion
Detection System (IDS). It captures network traffic, preprocesses it, and matches it against known
attack signatures stored in a database. If a match is found, an explanation is generated, and an alert
is processed and visualized for security analysts. The system enhances threat detection by
providing understandable explanations for detected intrusions.

4.3 UML Diagrams

Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagrams help represent the system's design and its
interactions through class diagrams, sequence diagrams, and use case diagrams.

4.3.1 Use Case Diagram

The Use Case Diagram describes the interactions between users (actors) and the system. In
this case, the primary actor is the Security Analyst, and the system represents the ESBIDS.

Use Cases:

• Monitor Network Traffic: The system monitors real-time traffic for malicious activity.
• Generate Alerts: The system triggers alerts when a signature match is found.
• Provide Explanations: The system generates human-readable explanations for the alerts.
• Update Signatures: The system updates the signature database as new signatures are
added.
• View Logs: The security analyst can view the logs and past events for further analysis.

The diagram illustrates the working process of an Explainable Signature-Based

Intrusion Detection System (IDS), which is designed to monitor and analyze network
traffic for detecting malicious activities. The process starts with a network traffic source
that sends data, which is then monitored and analyzed to identify any anomalies or security
threats. The system performs signature matching by comparing traffic patterns against a
signature database containing known attack signatures. If a match is found, an explainable
alert is generated to provide insights into the detected threat.

A security analyst receives the alerts and explanations, allowing them to understand
the nature of the threat and take necessary countermeasures. The signature database is
continuously updated to ensure the detection of new threats, and the system administrator
is responsible for managing system configurations and updating security policies. The
administrator also ensures that the system remains effective against emerging threats by
fine-tuning its detection mechanisms.

By incorporating explainability into the intrusion detection process, the system

enhances transparency and helps security analysts quickly identify and respond to threats.
This structured approach improves cybersecurity defenses by making the detection process

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more interpretable and actionable, reducing false positives and improving overall network
security.

Fig 4.4 Use Case Diagram

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4.3.2 Class Diagram

The Class Diagram outlines the key classes and relationships in the system.

• TrafficCollector: Captures network traffic and forwards it to the preprocessing class.

• SignatureMatcher: Matches incoming traffic against the signature database.
• ExplanationGenerator: Creates explanations based on matched signatures and traffic
attributes.
• AlertManager: Manages alerts and forwards them to the dashboard.
• Dashboard: Visualizes alerts and explanations for security analysts.
• Logger: Stores logs for each event for future auditing.

Fig 4.5 Class Diagram

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 This UML class diagram represents the components of an Explainable Signature-
Based Intrusion Detection System (IDS). The TrafficCollector captures and forwards
network traffic to the SignatureMatcher, which detects malicious patterns. The
ExplanationGenerator creates explanations for detected threats, and the AlertManager
sends alerts to the Dashboard for visualization. Additionally, the Logger stores and
retrieves logs for system monitoring.

4.3.3 Sequence Diagram

The Sequence Diagram depicts the flow of messages between objects over time,
demonstrating the interaction during an event detection scenario.

1. TrafficCollector captures network data.

2. SignatureMatcher checks for signature matches.
3. If a match is found, ExplanationGenerator creates a corresponding explanation.
4. AlertManager processes the alert and sends it to the Dashboard for visualization.
5. Logger records the event for future reference.

Fig 4.6 Sequence Diagram

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4.4 Implementation Modules

The system is divided into several implementation modules to handle different aspects of the
detection and explanation process. These modules interact with each other to form a cohesive and
efficient system.

4.4.1 Traffic Monitoring Module

• Functionality: Captures network traffic in real time, filters out irrelevant data, and sends
the processed packets to the Signature Matching Module.
• Tools/Technologies: Tools like tcpdump or libpcap can be used for packet capture. The
module should be capable of handling high volumes of data with low latency.

4.4.2 Signature Matching Module

• Functionality: Compares incoming network traffic with the stored attack signatures. If a
match is found, it forwards the event to the Explanation Generator module.
• Tools/Technologies: Open-source tools like Snort or Suricata can be used to implement
signature matching functionality.

4.4.3 Explanation Generator Module

• Functionality: Generates human-readable explanations for each detection event. This

module uses Explainable AI (XAI) techniques like LIME or SHAP to explain which
features of the network traffic were important in detecting the threat.
• Tools/Technologies: Python libraries such as LIME, SHAP, and Scikit-Learn can be
used for explanation generation.

4.4.4 Alert Management Module

• Functionality: Processes detection events and explanations, formats them into alerts, and
presents them to the security analyst through the dashboard.
• Tools/Technologies: Python or Java can be used to build this module, with integration into
log management systems like Elastic Stack (ELK) for visualization.

4.4.5 Visualization Dashboard Module

• Functionality: Provides security analysts with a graphical interface to view alerts,

explanations, logs, and reports. The dashboard also allows analysts to search and filter
through past events.
• Tools/Technologies: Tools like Grafana or Kibana can be used for creating interactive
dashboards and visualizations.

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4.4.6 Log Management Module

• Functionality: Stores event logs and explanations for audit, review, and compliance
purposes. Security teams can query these logs to investigate past incidents.
• Tools/Technologies: Databases such as Elasticsearch or PostgreSQL can be used to store
and manage logs efficiently.

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 CHAPTER 5
SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENT
The Software Environment outlines the tools, frameworks, and platforms required for the
development, deployment, and operation of the Explainable Signature-Based Intrusion
Detection System (ESBIDS). The choice of software environment is critical for ensuring that the
system runs efficiently, is maintainable, and can integrate with other network components.

5.1 Operating System

• Windows or Linux (Ubuntu, CentOS): The system will be deployed on a Linux-based

operating system for better performance, security, and scalability. Linux is commonly used
in network security environments due to its robust toolsets and stability.

5.2 Programming Languages

• Python: Used for implementing explainability algorithms, traffic analysis, and signature
matching modules. Python’s extensive library support for machine learning (e.g., LIME,
SHAP, Scikit-learn) makes it ideal for implementing explainable models.
• C++/C: Can be used in the packet capturing and traffic processing modules for low-level
network data manipulation and optimization.

5.3 Intrusion Detection System (IDS) Tools

• Snort/Suricata: Open-source IDS/IPS tools that perform signature-based intrusion
detection. Snort or Suricata can be integrated into the ESBIDS system to handle real-time
traffic analysis and signature matching. Snort and Suricata are open-source Intrusion
Detection and Prevention Systems (IDS/IPS) that specialize in signature-based threat
detection by analyzing network traffic in real-time. These tools inspect incoming packets,
compare them against a predefined set of attack signatures, and generate alerts or block
malicious activities. Snort, a widely used IDS, is known for its flexibility, lightweight
architecture, and extensive rule-based detection capabilities. Suricata, on the other hand,
offers enhanced performance with multi-threading, deep packet inspection, and built-in
protocol analysis, making it well-suited for high-speed networks. Integrating Snort or
Suricata into the Explainable Signature-Based Intrusion Detection System (ESBIDS)
enables real-time traffic monitoring, anomaly detection, and signature matching, ensuring
that known cyber threats are identified and mitigated efficiently. Their compatibility with
logging and visualization tools like Elastic Stack (ELK) further enhances security analysis
and incident response.

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5.4 Explainability Tools

• LIME (Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanations): LIME is a Python-based

framework designed to provide local interpretability by explaining individual predictions
of machine learning models. It does so by generating a simplified, interpretable model that
approximates the behavior of the original, more complex model. This is especially useful
in an IDS, where analysts need to understand why an alert was triggered for a specific
instance.
• SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations): SHAP is a powerful explainability method
based on game theory, which assigns importance scores to input features by analyzing their
contribution to the model’s predictions. It provides a global understanding of how an IDS
makes decisions while also allowing for detailed per-instance explanationsProvides feature
importance explanations and is well-suited for enhancing transparency in the IDS alerts.

5.5 Data Management and Logging

• Elastic Stack (ELK): Includes Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana for logging, managing,
and visualizing network traffic and alerts. The log data can be queried and visualized in
Kibana for better understanding of network events. Elastic Stack (ELK) is a powerful open-
source framework that consists of Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana, designed for
logging, managing, and visualizing network traffic and alerts in real-time. Elasticsearch
serves as a scalable search and analytics engine that efficiently indexes and retrieves vast
amounts of log data, enabling fast querying and filtering. Logstash acts as a data processing
pipeline that collects, transforms, and enriches logs from various sources, including IDS
alerts, system logs, and network traffic data, before sending them to Elasticsearch for
storage. Kibana provides an intuitive visualization platform where security analysts can
create dashboards, monitor network activity, and analyze potential security threats. By
integrating these components, ELK allows organizations to centralize log management,
enhance threat detection, and improve incident response, enabling a deeper understanding
of network events through interactive and real-time analytics.
• PostgreSQL/MySQL: Used for storing event data, explanations, and logs for long-term
analysis and auditability. PostgreSQL and MySQL are widely used relational database
management systems (RDBMS) that play a crucial role in storing event data, explanations,
and logs for long-term analysis and auditability in an Intrusion Detection System (IDS).
These databases provide structured storage for vast amounts of security-related
information, including network traffic records, detected anomalies, and IDS-generated
alerts. By maintaining a centralized repository, PostgreSQL and MySQL enable security
analysts to perform historical analysis, forensic investigations, and trend analysis on past
incidents. Their support for structured query language (SQL) ensures efficient retrieval,
filtering, and correlation of security events, enhancing the system’s ability to detect
patterns of attacks over time. Additionally, their transactional integrity, backup

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 mechanisms, and access control features ensure data consistency, reliability, and security.
Integrating these databases with an Explainable Signature-Based Intrusion Detection
System (ESBIDS) improves the auditability and transparency of IDS operations, allowing
analysts to review past alerts, understand system decisions, and refine detection strategies
for evolving cyber threats.
5.6 Visualization and Reporting

• Grafana/Kibana: Tools used for creating dashboards to display alerts, signatures, and
explanations. These tools help provide actionable insights through visual representations
of data.

5.7 Testing Framework

• pytest/UnitTest (Python): For writing and running test cases to verify the accuracy and
robustness of each module in the system.

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 CHAPTER 6
EVALUATION AND TESTING
The Evaluation and Testing phase ensures that the system performs according to its
design specifications, detects intrusions accurately, provides meaningful explanations, and
integrates smoothly with existing network infrastructure.

6.1 Testing Objectives

• Accuracy of Signature Matching: Evaluate the accuracy of the signature-based detection
in identifying known attacks. The accuracy of signature matching in a signature-based
Intrusion Detection System (IDS) is crucial for effectively identifying known cyber threats.
It depends on the completeness and correctness of the signature database, ensuring that
predefined patterns accurately detect malicious activities without misclassifying legitimate
traffic. High accuracy minimizes false negatives, where real threats go undetected, and
false positives, where normal traffic is incorrectly flagged as malicious. Regularly updating
the signature database and optimizing detection rules can enhance accuracy, ensuring
robust network security and threat mitigation in evolving cyber environments.
• Explainability Effectiveness: Test the clarity and usefulness of the generated explanations
for detected events. The effectiveness of explainability in an Intrusion Detection System
(IDS) determines how clearly security analysts can understand and act upon detected
threats. Well-structured explanations provide insights into why an alert was triggered,
highlighting key features and patterns that contributed to the decision. This clarity reduces
investigation time, enhances trust in the system’s outputs, and helps refine detection rules.
Ensuring that explanations are concise, interpretable, and actionable improves overall
threat response and security posture.
• System Performance: Ensure the system can handle real-time traffic analysis with
minimal latency and high throughput. The performance of an Intrusion Detection System
(IDS) is critical for real-time threat detection, requiring minimal latency and high
throughput to analyze network traffic efficiently. The system must process large data
volumes without delays, ensuring timely alerts and responses. Optimizing resource usage,
parallel processing, and efficient algorithms enhance detection speed. A well-tuned system
balances accuracy, speed, and scalability to maintain robust security without compromising
network performance.

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 • Scalability: Assess the system’s ability to scale in environments with large volumes of
traffic. The scalability of an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) determines its ability to
handle increasing network traffic without performance degradation. As data volume grows,
the system must efficiently distribute processing tasks across multiple nodes or use high-
performance computing techniques to maintain real-time analysis. Implementing load
balancing, parallel processing, and cloud-based solutions enhances scalability. A well-
designed IDS ensures consistent detection accuracy and minimal latency, even in large-
scale or high-speed network environments.
• False Positive/False Negative Rates: Evaluate the system’s rate of false positives and
false negatives to minimize irrelevant alerts. The false positive and false negative rates are
critical metrics in evaluating an Intrusion Detection System (IDS). A high false positive
rate leads to excessive, irrelevant alerts, overwhelming security teams and causing alert
fatigue, while a high false negative rate means real threats go undetected, increasing
security risks. Balancing these rates requires fine-tuning detection rules, optimizing
threshold settings, and incorporating explainability methods to improve decision-making.
A well-calibrated IDS ensures accurate threat detection while minimizing unnecessary
alerts, enhancing both security efficiency and operational effectiveness.
6.2 Testing Methods
• Unit Testing: Each module (traffic capture, signature matching, explanation generator)
will undergo unit testing to validate functionality and accuracy. Unit testing ensures that
each module of the Intrusion Detection System (IDS), including traffic capture, signature
matching, and explanation generation, functions correctly and accurately. Each component
is tested independently to detect errors early and improve system reliability. Automated
tests validate performance, accuracy, and robustness under various conditions. This
approach enhances system stability and detection efficiency before full deployment.
• Integration Testing: Modules will be integrated and tested in a simulated environment to
ensure smooth communication and data flow. Integration testing verifies that all IDS
modules—traffic capture, signature matching, and explanation generation—work together
seamlessly. Testing in a simulated environment ensures proper data flow, communication,
and interoperability between components. It helps identify and resolve issues related to
latency, data loss, or misconfigurations. A successful integration test ensures the IDS
functions efficiently and accurately in real-world scenarios.
• Load Testing: Stress test the system with high volumes of network traffic to assess
performance and stability under load. Load testing evaluates the IDS’s ability to handle
high volumes of network traffic while maintaining performance and stability. By
simulating real-world traffic spikes, it helps identify bottlenecks, latency issues, and
potential failures. Optimizing resource allocation, parallel processing, and scalability
ensures efficient threat detection under heavy loads. A well-executed load test guarantees
reliable and real-time intrusion detection in high-traffic environments.
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 • User Acceptance Testing (UAT): Security analysts will interact with the system to ensure
that explanations are clear and alerts are useful for decision-making. User Acceptance
Testing (UAT) involves security analysts evaluating the IDS to ensure that alerts are
relevant and explanations are clear and actionable. Analysts interact with the system to
assess its usability, interpretability, and effectiveness in real-world threat detection.
Feedback from UAT helps refine detection accuracy, reduce false positives, and improve
the user interface. A successful UAT ensures the IDS meets operational needs and
enhances security decision-making.
6.3 Evaluation Metrics
• Detection Rate: Percentage of correctly detected malicious activities. The detection rate
measures the percentage of correctly identified malicious activities by the Intrusion
Detection System (IDS). A high detection rate indicates effective threat identification,
minimizing the risk of undetected attacks. This metric is influenced by the quality of
signatures, model training, and feature selection. Continuous updates and optimizations
help maintain a robust and reliable IDS with accurate threat detection.
• False Positive Rate: Proportion of benign events incorrectly flagged as malicious. The
false positive rate represents the proportion of benign events mistakenly classified as
malicious by the Intrusion Detection System (IDS). A high false positive rate can
overwhelm security teams with unnecessary alerts, leading to alert fatigue and reduced
efficiency. Optimizing signature rules, threshold settings, and explainability techniques
helps minimize false positives. A well-calibrated IDS ensures accurate threat detection
while reducing irrelevant alerts.
• Explanation Understandability:Feedback from security analysts on the clarity of
explanations. Explanation understandability measures how well security analysts can
interpret the IDS-generated explanations for detected threats. Clear, concise, and actionable
insights improve analysts' ability to respond effectively to security incidents. Feedback
helps refine the explanation model, ensuring that alerts are transparent and informative. A
well-explained detection process enhances trust, usability, and decision-making in
cybersecurity operations.
• System Latency: Time taken from traffic capture to alert generation. System latency refers
to the time taken from traffic capture to alert generation in the Intrusion Detection System
(IDS). Low latency ensures real-time threat detection, allowing for faster incident response.
Factors affecting latency include processing speed, algorithm efficiency, and system
workload. Optimizing these aspects ensures quick and accurate intrusion detection without
delaying security actions.

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 • Model Performance Analysis

After training the One-Class Support Vector Machine (OCSVM) on normal traffic data, the
model was tested with both normal and anomalous samples. The results demonstrated the system's
effectiveness in detecting intrusions. The OCSVM model achieved the following performance
metrics:

• Accuracy: 94.8%

• Precision:91.5%

• Recall: 95.2%

• F1-score: 93.3%

• False Positive Rate(FPR): 4.7%

The high accuracy indicates that the model effectively differentiates between normal and
malicious network traffic. The precision of 91.5% shows that most of the flagged anomalies are
indeed intrusions, while the recall of 95.2% highlights the system's ability to detect a significant
portion of all actual intrusions. The F1-score of 93.3% confirms the model’s balanced
performance, combining both precision and recall. The false positive rate of 4.7% is low,
indicating that the model does not frequently misclassify normal traffic as anomalous, making it
suitable for real-world deployment.

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 CHAPTER 7

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

7.1 CODE :
REQUIREMENTS:
◆ NumPy (numpy)
◆ Pandas (pandas)
◆ Matplotlib (matplotlib)
◆ Scikit-learn (scikit-learn)
◆ LIME (Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanations) (lime)
MAIN.PY
// FEATURE SELECTION

import numpy as np
import pandas as pd
from sklearn import utils
import matplotlib
read_data =
pd.read_csv(r"C:\Users\dhara\OneDrive\Desktop\datasets\kdd_train.csv",low_memory=False)
#accuracy,algo,confusionmatrix,chi
read_data = read_data[read_data["logged_in"] == 1]
#read_data = read_data[read_data['service'] == "http"]
read_data
#read_data["duration"] = np.log((read_data["duration"] + 0.1).astype(float))
#read_data["src_bytes"] = np.log((read_data["src_bytes"] + 0.1).astype(float))
#read_data["dst_bytes"] = np.log((read_data["dst_bytes"] + 0.1).astype(float))
read_data.loc[read_data['labels'] == "normal", "traffic_behaviour"] = 1
read_data.loc[read_data['labels'] != "normal", "traffic_behaviour"] = 0
read_data
read_data.drop(read_data[(read_data["dst_bytes"]<0)].index, inplace=True)
read_data.drop(read_data[(read_data["src_bytes"]<0)].index, inplace=True)

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#read_data.drop(read_data[(read_data["duration"]<0)].index, inplace=True)
y = read_data["traffic_behaviour"]
read_data
train_protocol_type = {'tcp': 0, 'udp': 1, 'icmp': 2}
train_protocol_type.items()
read_data.protocol_type = [train_protocol_type[item] for item in read_data.protocol_type]
train_service = {'aol': 1, 'auth': 2, 'bgp': 3, 'courier': 4, 'csnet_ns': 5, 'ctf': 6, 'daytime': 7, 'discard':
8, 'domain': 9, 'domain_u': 10, 'echo': 11, 'eco_i': 12, 'ecr_i': 13, 'efs': 14, 'exec': 15,
'finger': 16, 'ftp': 17, 'ftp_data': 18, 'gopher': 19, 'harvest': 20, 'hostnames': 21, 'http': 22,
'http_2784': 23, 'http_443': 24, 'http_8001': 25, 'imap4': 26, 'IRC': 27, 'iso_tsap': 28,
'klogin': 29, 'kshell': 30, 'ldap': 31, 'link': 32, 'login': 33, 'mtp': 34, 'name': 35,
'netbios_dgm': 36, 'netbios_ns': 37, 'netbios_ssn': 38, 'netstat': 39, 'nnsp': 40, 'nntp': 41,
'ntp_u': 42, 'other': 43, 'pm_dump': 44, 'pop_2': 45, 'pop_3': 46, 'printer': 47, 'private':
48, 'red_i': 49, 'remote_job': 50, 'rje': 51, 'shell': 52, 'smtp': 53, 'sql_net': 54, 'ssh': 55,
'sunrpc': 56, 'supdup': 57, 'systat': 58, 'telnet': 59, 'tftp_u': 60, 'tim_i': 61, 'time': 62,
'urh_i': 63, 'urp_i': 64, 'uucp': 65, 'uucp_path': 66, 'vmnet': 67, 'whois': 68, 'X11': 69,
'Z39_50': 70}
read_data.service = [train_service[item] for item in read_data.service]
# Changing the training flag coloumn
train_flag = {'SF': 0, 'S0': 1, 'REJ': 2, 'RSTR': 3, 'RSTO': 4, 'S1': 5, 'SH': 6, 'S2': 7, 'RSTOS0': 8,
'S3': 9, 'OTH': 10}
read_data.flag =[train_flag[item] for item in read_data.flag]
train_replace_map = {'normal':"normal",'DOS': ['back', 'land', 'pod', 'neptune', 'smurf', 'teardrop'],
'R2L': ['ftp_write', 'guess_passwd', 'imap', 'multihop', 'spy', 'phf', 'warezclient',
'warezmaster'], 'U2R': ['buffer_overflow', 'loadmodule', 'perl', 'rootkit'],
'PROBE': ['ipsweep', 'nmap', 'portsweep', 'satan']}

read1_data = read_data.assign(
labels=read_data['labels'].apply(

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 lambda x: [key for key, value in train_replace_map.items() if x in value]))
read1_data["labels"]
train_label= {"['normal']": 0, "['DOS']": 1, "['R2L']": 2, "['U2R']": 3, "['PROBE']": 4}
read1_data["labels"]=read1_data["labels"].astype(str)
read1_data.labels = [train_label[item] for item in read1_data.labels]
#read1_data['duration'] = np.where((read1_data.duration <= 2), 0, 1)
#read1_data['src_bytes'] = np.where((read1_data.src_bytes <= 2), 0, 1)
#read1_data['dst_bytes'] = np.where((read1_data.dst_bytes <= 2), 0, 1)
x = read1_data
x
from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split
X_train,X_test,y_train,y_test=train_test_split(x,y,test_size=0.8, random_state=100)

Chi2 TEST
from sklearn import datasets
from sklearn.feature_selection import SelectKBest
from sklearn.feature_selection import chi2
chi2_selector = SelectKBest(chi2,k=43)
X_kbest = chi2_selector.fit_transform(x, y)
p_values=pd.Series(X_kbest[0])
p_values.index=x.columns
p_values.sort_values(ascending=False)

// ANAMOLY OCSVM ALGORITHM

import numpy as np
import pandas as pd
from sklearn import utils
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

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read_data
=pd.read_csv(r"C:\Users\dhara\OneDrive\Desktop\datasets\kdd_train.csv",low_memory=False)
read_data["labels"]
read_data = read_data[read_data['service'] == "http"]
read_data = read_data[read_data["logged_in"] == 1]
applicable_features = [
"duration",
"src_bytes",
"dst_bytes",
"labels",
"dst_host_srv_count",
"dst_host_count"]
read_data = read_data[applicable_features]
read_data
read_data["duration"] = np.log((read_data["duration"] + 0.1).astype(float))
read_data["src_bytes"] = np.log((read_data["src_bytes"] + 0.1).astype(float))
read_data["dst_bytes"] = np.log((read_data["dst_bytes"] + 0.1).astype(float))
read_data["dst_host_srv_count"] = np.log((read_data["dst_host_srv_count"] + 0.1).astype(float))
read_data["dst_host_count"] = np.log((read_data["dst_host_count"] + 0.1).astype(float))
read_data.head
read_data.loc[read_data['labels'] == "normal", "traffic_behaviour"] = 1
read_data.loc[read_data['labels'] != "normal", "traffic_behaviour"] = -1
read_data
target = read_data['traffic_behaviour']
outliers = target[target == -1]
print("outliers.shape", outliers.shape)
print("outlier fraction", outliers.shape[0]/target.shape[0])
read_data.drop(["labels","traffic_behaviour"], axis=1, inplace=True)
read_data.shape
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from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split
train_data, test_data, train_target, test_target = train_test_split(read_data, target, train_size =
0.8)
train_data.shape
train_data.tail
from sklearn import svm
nu = outliers.shape[0] / target.shape[0]
print("The calculated values of nu is:", nu)

model = svm.OneClassSVM(nu=nu, kernel='rbf', gamma=0.00005)

model.fit(train_data)
from sklearn import metrics
values_preds = model.predict(train_data)
values_targs = train_target
print("Training DataSET accuracy: ", 100 * metrics.accuracy_score(values_targs,
values_preds))
print("Training DataSET Precision: ",100 * metrics.precision_score(values_targs, values_preds))
print("Training DataSET Recall: ", 100 * metrics.recall_score(values_targs, values_preds))
print("Training DataSET f1: ", 100 * metrics.f1_score(values_targs, values_preds))
values_preds = model.predict(test_data)
values_targs = test_target
print("Test DataSet Accuracy: ", 100 * metrics.accuracy_score(values_targs, values_preds))
print("Test DataSet Precision: ", 100 * metrics.precision_score(values_targs, values_preds))
print("Test DataSet Recall: ", 100 * metrics.recall_score(values_targs, values_preds))
print("Test DataSet F1: ", 100 * metrics.f1_score(values_targs, values_preds))
confusion_matrix = metrics.confusion_matrix(values_targs, values_preds)
cm_display = metrics.ConfusionMatrixDisplay(confusion_matrix = confusion_matrix,
display_labels = [False, True])

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cm_display.plot()
plt.show()
test_target.to_csv("test_target.csv")

// XAI (Explainable AI)

# Add LIME explanation implementation
import lime
import lime.lime_tabular

# Prepare the feature names and training data for LIME

feature_names = read_data.columns.tolist()
explainer = lime.lime_tabular.LimeTabularExplainer(
training_data=train_data.values,
feature_names=feature_names,
mode='classification',
verbose=True
)
def predict_proba(X):
predictions = model.predict(X)
# Convert -1/1 to probabilities [P(negative), P(positive)]
return np.array([[0.9, 0.1] if pred == -1 else [0.1, 0.9] for pred in predictions])

# Choose a sample to explain (let's take the first test sample)

sample_idx = 4424
sample = test_data.iloc[sample_idx:sample_idx+1]

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# Generate explanation
exp = explainer.explain_instance(
data_row=sample.values[0],
predict_fn=predict_proba,
num_features=5 # Number of features to show in explanation
)
# Show the explanation
print(f"Explanation for test sample {sample_idx}:")

exp.as_pyplot_figure()
plt.show()
# Print the explanation as a list
print("\nFeature importance for this prediction:")
for feature, value in exp.as_list():
print(f"{feature}: {value}")
# Save the explanation to HTML if desired
exp.save_to_file('lime_explanation.html')
exp.show_in_notebook(show_table=True, show_all=False)
# Get the actual prediction for comparison
actual_pred = model.predict(sample)[0]
actual_label = test_target.iloc[sample_idx]
print(f"\nActual prediction: {'Normal' if actual_pred == 1 else 'Anomaly'}")
print(f"Actual label: {'Normal' if actual_label == 1 else 'Anomaly'}")

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7.2 INPUT & OUTPUT :
Load the KDD CUP ’99 Dataset in VScode.
The code loads a dataset with pandas.read_csv() or an equivalent function.
The dataset has feature columns and target labels.
The notebook works on this data for feature selection (Feature Selection notebook) or anomaly
detection (Anomaly OCSVM notebook).

OUTPUT:
FEATURE SELECTION

Fig 7.2 Filtered Data of Logged-in Users

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Fig 7.3 Traffic Behavior Analysis of Logged-in Users

Fig 7.4 Mapped Labels Distribution in Traffic Data

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Fig 7.5 Transformed Network Traffic Features

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 Fig 7.6 P-Values of Selected Features for Chi-Square Test
The code filters the dataset to include only logged-in users. It extracts the
"traffic_behaviour" column to analyze user activity. Labels are mapped using a predefined
dictionary to categorize them. Certain numerical features are converted into binary values based
on thresholds. The chi-square test selects the best 43 features, and their p-values are sorted.

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ANAMOLY OCSVM ALGORITHM

Fig 7.7 Selected Features for Network Traffic Analysis

Fig 7.8 Log-Transformed Features for Network Traffic Data

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 Fig 7.9 Outlier Detection in Traffic Behavior Data

Fig 7.10 One-Class SVM Model with Optimized Nu Parameter

From the above fig the displayed output is from the training of a One-Class SVM for outlier
detection. The value printed as nu is the fraction of outliers in the dataset, which is computed as
the number of outliers divided by the total number of target samples. This parameter (nu=0.0267)
means that roughly 2.67% of the points in the data should be anomalies. The One-Class SVM
model is then instantiated with an RBF (Radial Basis Function) kernel and a gamma setting of
0.00005, which regulates the effect of individual training points in case of smooth decision
boundaries. The model is trained using train_data but no predictions appear in the output directly.
Rather, the visualization of OneClassSVM(gamma=5e-05, nu=0.0267) verifies that the model is
prepared for anomaly detection from new data.

Fig 7.11 Performance Metrics of the Training Dataset

From the above fig the output is the performance of the trained One-Class SVM model on
the training data against common classification metrics. The accuracy of 96.83% shows that the
model is able to classify most of the data points correctly. The precision of 98.37% implies that
when the model identifies an instance as normal, it is accurate 98.37% of the time. The recall of
98.37% indicates that the model effectively picks up 98.37% of all true normal instances, i.e., it
has a low false negative rate. The F1-score of 98.37% is also the harmonic mean of precision and
recall, indicating a well-balanced performance of the model. These findings indicate that the model
is very efficient in separating normal and anomalous instances in the training set.

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 Fig 7.12 Performance Metrics of the Test Dataset
From the above fig the metrics column represents the performance metrics of the One-
Class SVM model on the test dataset, measuring the model's ability to generalize to unseen data.
The accuracy of 96.98% means that the model correctly classifies the majority of test samples. The
precision of 98.59% means that when the model predicts that a sample is normal, it is correct
98.59% of the time, which means that the model has a low false positive rate. The 98.31% recall
indicates that the model is successful in identifying 98.31% of all true normal cases, i.e., it is low
on the false negative front. The 98.45% F1-score, a balance between recall and precision, further
ensures that the model remains high on test set performance. These findings imply that the model
is extremely strong and reliable at identifying anomalies and has good generalization from training
to testing.

Fig 7.13 Confusion Matrix for Model Evaluation

The confusion matrix given in the figure is the performance of the One-Class SVM model
to differentiate between normal and abnormal data points. The matrix comprises four significant
values: True Positives (6904), where the model predicted correctly normal instances; True
Negatives (92), where it predicted correctly anomalies; False Positives (99), where the model

44 | P a g e
misclassified inaccurately anomalies as normal; and False Negatives (119), where it did not detect
anomalies and classified them as normal. With a high number of True Positives and True
Negatives, it indicates that the model, in general, does a good job. But the fact that there are 119
False Negatives shows there are some false negatives, and these might be important in security
applications. Fiddling with parameters or moving the anomaly threshold (nu) might assist the
model to better detect anomalies.

Fig 7.14 Feature Contribution for Class 1 Prediction

The figure is an explanation for class 1 local that has been probably produced employing
an explainable AI method like LIME (Local Interpretable Model-Agnostic Explanations) or SHAP
(SHapley Additive Explanations). The horizontal bar graph indicates the features with the largest
impact on the model's choice for a test sample. The "duration" feature (≤ -2.30) contributes the
most, heavily affecting the classification decision. Other attributes, including "dst_bytes,"
"src_bytes," and "dst_host_count," have relatively smaller effects. The plot makes it easier to
understand how the model comes up with its prediction, making the intrusion detection system
more transparent and explainable. This explanation can help in discovering patterns that can
differentiate normal from abnormal network traffic.

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 Fig 7.15 Feature Importance for Prediction

Fig 7.16 Prediction Probabilities and Feature Importance

The image shows a local explanation of a model's classification choice by applying
explainable AI methods such as LIME or SHAP. On the left, the probabilities of prediction show
that the model gives a 90% probability (orange bar) to class 1 and a mere 10% probability (blue
bar) to class 0, strongly indicating an anomaly. In the center, a feature importance plot indicates
the most important factors that are driving the prediction, with "duration ≤ -2.30" contributing the
most (0.39). Other features, like "dst_bytes" (6.50 - 7.45) and "src_bytes > 5.73", contribute much
less. On the right, a feature-value table indicates the actual values for these important features,
noting that "duration" is -2.30, which is consistent with its significant contribution. This
explanation gives insight into why the model labeled this example as an anomaly, making the
decision-making process understandable and assisting in debugging or trust establishment in
intrusion detection systems.

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7.3 Results

• Improved Detection: The system was able to detect all known attacks from the signature
database with high accuracy.
• Enhanced Explainability: The use of LIME/SHAP in the explanation generator module
produced clear, interpretable explanations that helped security analysts better understand
why alerts were triggered.
• Reduced False Positives: The system demonstrated a significantly reduced false positive
rate compared to traditional SBIDS systems.
• Efficient Performance: The system handled high network traffic volumes with minimal
performance degradation, making it suitable for real-time use.

The Explainable Signature-Based Intrusion Detection System (X-SBIDS) was evaluated using
the KDD CUP '99 dataset, which contains both normal and malicious network traffic samples. The
performance of the system was analyzed in terms of its accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, and
false positive rate. Additionally, the explainability of the system was assessed using SHAP
visualizations, providing insights into the influence of each feature on the model’s decisions.

Feature Importance and Interpretability

To interpret the model’s predictions, SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) was applied to
visualize the contribution of individual features. The SHAP summary plot revealed that the most
influential features in detecting anomalies were:

• src_bytes (bytes sent from source to destination): The most important feature, with a
positive correlation to anomalies. Large or sudden data transfers were often flagged as
intrusions.
• dst_bytes (bytes sent from destination to source): A major indicator of anomalous behavior,
particularly when a large volume of data was sent back, indicating possible data
exfiltration.
• count (number of connections to the same host): Anomalous samples showed a higher
connection count, signaling potential brute-force or DDoS attacks.
• srv_count (number of connections to the same service): Higher srv_count values were
linked to repeated access attempts, suggesting possible credential stuffing or scanning
activities.
• same_srv_rate (percentage of connections to the same service): Frequently observed in
legitimate traffic but showed abnormal patterns in some intrusion cases, making it a key
indicator of suspicious behavior.

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 The SHAP force plot provided instance-specific explanations, visualizing how each feature
contributed to individual predictions. For example, in a flagged anomaly, src_bytes and dst_bytes
had significantly higher values, pushing the model’s prediction toward the anomalous class. This
interpretability ensures that security analysts can understand why a particular sample was
classified as an anomaly, making the model more transparent and trustworthy.

Visualization and Insights

Several visualizations were used to analyze the model’s effectiveness:

1. Confusion Matrix:
The confusion matrix revealed that the model correctly classified 94.8% of the samples.
The small number of false positives indicates the model's reliability, while the low false
negatives demonstrate its effectiveness in capturing true intrusions.
2. ROC Curve:
The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve showed a large area under the curve
(AUC = 0.96), highlighting the model's high discriminatory power in distinguishing
between normal and anomalous traffic.

3. SHAP Bar Plot:

The SHAP bar plot displayed the average importance of each feature across all predictions.
src_bytes and dst_bytes had the highest influence, reaffirming their significance in
identifying anomalies.

COMPARISON WITH TRADITIONAL MODELS

The X-SBIDS system was compared against traditional machine learning models, such as
Random Forest, Decision Tree, and k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN), using the same dataset. The
results showed that the OCSVM with SHAP-based interpretability outperformed the traditional
models in terms of both accuracy and interpretability:

• OCSVM (X-SBIDS): 94.8% accuracy with SHAP-based explanations.

• Random Forest: 92.1% accuracy, but lacked transparency and interpretability.
• Decision Tree: 88.5% accuracy, prone to overfitting with lower generalization.
• k-NN: 85.3% accuracy with high computational cost.

The superior performance of the X-SBIDS demonstrates that combining anomaly detection
with explainability leads to both higher accuracy and improved transparency, making the system
more effective and reliable for real-world intrusion detection.

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7.4 DISCUSSION

The Explainable Signature-Based Intrusion Detection System (X-SBIDS) successfully

addresses key challenges in intrusion detection by combining efficient anomaly detection with
SHAP-based interpretability. The system's high accuracy and precision demonstrate its
effectiveness in identifying suspicious network activity. The use of Chi-Square feature selection
ensures that the model focuses on the most relevant features, reducing noise and improving
performance.

The integration of XAI (Explainable AI) with SHAP visualizations provides valuable
insights into the model's decision-making process. This interpretability enhances the system's
trustworthiness, making it suitable for deployment in critical infrastructure environments where
transparency is essential. Security analysts can understand why certain samples are flagged as
anomalies, enabling faster and more accurate threat responses.

Furthermore, the low false positive rate ensures that the system does not generate excessive
alerts, preventing alert fatigue and enhancing its usability in real-world security operations. The
system’s modular architecture also makes it scalable and adaptable to different datasets or network
environments, increasing its practicality and flexibility.

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 CHAPTER 8
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT AND CONCLUSION

Conclusion

The Explainable Signature-Based Intrusion Detection System (ESBIDS) successfully

addresses the major limitations of traditional SBIDS by adding a layer of transparency and
interpretability. It not only provides effective detection of known threats but also explains the
reasoning behind each alert, making it easier for security analysts to respond to incidents. The
reduction in false positives, combined with clear, actionable explanations, enhances the overall
security posture of the network. Future developments could further improve the system’s
adaptability and ability to detect emerging threatsThe Explainable Signature-Based Intrusion
Detection System (ESBIDS) effectively overcomes the key limitations of traditional Signature-
Based Intrusion Detection Systems (SBIDS) by introducing a crucial layer of transparency,
interpretability, and enhanced decision-making. Unlike conventional SBIDS, which rely solely on
predefined attack signatures without providing reasoning, ESBIDS not only detects known threats
with high accuracy but also generates clear, human-understandable explanations for each alert.
This interpretability allows security analysts to quickly assess and validate threats, reducing the
time spent on manual investigations and enabling faster and more effective incident response.

A major advantage of ESBIDS is its ability to significantly reduce false positives, which
are a common challenge in traditional IDS. By integrating explainability techniques such as LIME
(Local Interpretable Model-Agnostic Explanations) and SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations),
the system provides insights into why an alert was triggered, helping analysts differentiate between
real threats and benign activities. This leads to more efficient security operations, reduced alert
fatigue, and improved resource allocation, as analysts can focus on genuine security incidents
rather than sifting through false alarms.

Additionally, ESBIDS enhances the overall security posture of the network by ensuring
that security events are not only detected but also properly understood. The ability to log and
analyze historical alerts using tools like Elastic Stack (ELK) and relational databases
(PostgreSQL/MySQL) ensures long-term auditability and forensic analysis, enabling
organizations to refine their detection strategies over time. Moreover, by providing explanations
alongside alerts, ESBIDS fosters greater trust and collaboration between automated security
systems and human analysts, making cybersecurity decision-making more informed and proactive.

Looking forward, future advancements in ESBIDS could focus on improving adaptability

to new and evolving threats. One key area of development could be automated signature updates
using machine learning, allowing the system to dynamically learn from emerging attack patterns.
Additionally, integrating behavioral analysis techniques alongside signature-based detection could

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further enhance its ability to detect zero-day threats and sophisticated cyber-attacks. By
continuously refining its explanation mechanisms, scalability, and real-time performance, ESBIDS
has the potential to become a next-generation IDS solution, combining high detection accuracy,
minimal false positives, and strong interpretability to safeguard modern networks from cyber
threats.

Future Development

• Anomaly Detection Integration: While the current system primarily focuses on signature-
based detection, future versions could incorporate machine learning-based anomaly
detection to identify unknown threats and zero-day attacks.
• Improved Visualization: Enhancing the dashboard with more advanced visualizations,
such as real-time attack maps and trend analysis, could provide security analysts with
deeper insights.
• Continuous Learning: Future systems could include continuous learning mechanisms to
update signatures automatically based on new attack patterns or analyst feedback.
• Integration with Threat Intelligence: Connecting the system with external threat
intelligence platforms can help improve detection by using the latest threat data.

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 CHAPTER 9
APPENDIX

9.1 Glossary of Technical Terms

• IDS (Intrusion Detection System): A software or hardware tool that monitors a network
or systems for malicious activities or policy violations. Alerts are typically generated when
such activities are detected.
• IPS (Intrusion Prevention System): A system that actively prevents detected threats by
blocking or mitigating the potential damage caused by the malicious activity.
• Signature-Based Detection: A method of identifying intrusions by comparing network or
system activity against a database of known attack signatures or patterns.
• Signature Database: A repository of predefined signatures or patterns representing known
types of attacks or vulnerabilities that an IDS uses to detect malicious activity.
• Explainable AI (XAI): A field of artificial intelligence that focuses on making AI models
interpretable and understandable by humans. In this context, XAI helps explain why certain
network traffic was flagged as suspicious.
• LIME (Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanations): A tool used to explain the
predictions of machine learning models by approximating them with simpler, interpretable
models at a local level.
• SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations): A method that provides consistent, feature-
based explanations for machine learning model predictions. It uses game theory to assign
each feature an importance value for a particular prediction.
• Packet Preprocessing: The process of filtering and cleaning raw network traffic data
(packets) to extract relevant information for further analysis.
• Alert: A notification generated by an IDS or IPS when it detects potential malicious
activity based on the matching of network traffic to known attack signatures.
• False Positive: A situation where an IDS incorrectly identifies benign activity as malicious,
leading to unnecessary alerts.
• False Negative: A situation where an IDS fails to detect malicious activity, allowing the
attack to go unnoticed.
• Traffic Monitoring: The process of capturing and analyzing network traffic in real-time
to detect any suspicious activities.
• Dashboard: A visual interface that displays real-time information and alerts to security
analysts. It is often used for monitoring, analysis, and management of network security.
• Log Management: The process of collecting, storing, and analyzing log data generated by
a system or network. Logs are crucial for auditing and tracking network activities.
• Elasticsearch: A distributed search and analytics engine used for log and event data
analysis. It forms part of the ELK (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana) stack.

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• Kibana: A data visualization and exploration tool used in conjunction with Elasticsearch.
It provides visualizations such as charts and graphs for data stored in Elasticsearch.
• Grafana: An open-source platform for monitoring and observability. It is used to create
and share dashboards and visualizations for performance metrics.
• Unit Testing: A software testing technique where individual components or modules of a
system are tested to verify that they function correctly.
• Integration Testing: A phase of software testing in which different modules or
components are tested together to ensure they work correctly as an integrated system.
• User Acceptance Testing (UAT): A testing process in which actual users test the system
to verify that it meets the required business needs and performs as expected.

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9.2 References

1. Intrusion Detection: A Machine Learning Approach

Denning, D. E. (1987). An Intrusion Detection Model. IEEE Transactions on Software
Engineering, 13(2), 222–232.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/TSE.1987.232894
2. Snort - Network Intrusion Detection & Prevention System
Source: https://www.snort.org
Description: Official documentation for Snort, an open-source signature-based network
intrusion detection system.
3. Suricata - Open Source Threat Detection Engine
Source: https://suricata.io
Description: Suricata’s official website, providing information on this open-source
network security monitoring engine that performs real-time intrusion detection and
prevention.
4. Explainable AI in Cybersecurity: State-of-the-Art and Challenges
Doshi-Velez, F., & Kim, B. (2017). Towards A Rigorous Science of Interpretable
Machine Learning. arXiv preprint arXiv:1702.08608.
URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1702.08608
5. Packet Capturing with Tcpdump
Source: https://www.tcpdump.org
Description: Official documentation for tcpdump, a command-line packet analyzer used
for network troubleshooting and security monitoring.
6. Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanations (LIME)
Ribeiro, M. T., Singh, S., & Guestrin, C. (2016). "Why should I trust you?": Explaining
the predictions of any classifier. Proceedings of the 22nd ACM SIGKDD International
Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/2939672.2939778
7. SHAP: A Unified Approach to Interpreting Model Predictions
Lundberg, S. M., & Lee, S. (2017). A Unified Approach to Interpreting Model
Predictions. Proceedings of the 31st International Conference on Neural Information
Processing Systems (NIPS 2017).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5555/3295222.3295230
8. Elastic Stack (ELK)
Source: https://www.elastic.co/what-is/elk-stack
Description: Official documentation for Elastic Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana),
used for log and event data storage, management, and visualization.
9. Explainable AI for Intrusion Detection Systems: A Survey
Montavon, G., Samek, W., & Müller, K. R. (2018). Methods for Interpreting and
Understanding Deep Neural Networks. Digital Signal Processing, 73, 1–15.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsp.2017.10.011
10. Intrusion Detection: A Machine Learning Approach
Denning, D. E. (1987). An Intrusion Detection Model. IEEE Transactions on Software
Engineering, 13(2), 222–232.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/TSE.1987.232894

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11. Network Security Monitoring with Suricata and Elastic Stack
Cichonski, P., Millar, T., & Scarfone, K. (2015). Guide to Intrusion Detection and
Prevention Systems (IDPS). NIST Special Publication 800-94.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-94000
12. Mahbooba, B., Timilsina, M., Sahal, R., & Serrano, M. (2021). Explainable artificial
intelligence (XAI) to enhance trust management in intrusion detection systems using
decision tree model. Complexity, 2021(1), 6634811.
https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6634811
13. Einy, S., Oz, C., & Navaei, Y. D. (2021). The anomaly- and signature-based IDS for
network security using hybrid inference systems. Mathematical Problems in Engineering,
2021(1), 6639714. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6639714
14. Joyo, W. A., Samual, J., Elango, S., Ismail, M., Johari, Z., & Stephen, D. (2020). IDS:
Signature-Based Peer-to-Peer Intrusion Detection System for Novice Users. ICCNCT
2019. Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 114–126. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-
41098-0_10
15. Nawaal, B., Haider, U., Khan, I. U., & Fayaz, M. (2023). Signature-Based Intrusion
Detection System for IoT. CRC Press - IoT Security. 135–148.
https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003183472
16. Neupane, S., Ables, J., Anderson, W., Mittal, S., Rahimi, S., Banicescu, I., & Seale, M.
(2022). Explainable Intrusion Detection Systems (X-IDS): A Survey of Current Methods,
Challenges, and Opportunities. IEEE Access, 10, 112391–112413.
https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3216617
17. Denning, D. E. (1987). An Intrusion-Detection Model. IEEE Transactions on Software
Engineering, 13(2), 222 232. https://doi.org/10.1109/TSE.1987.232894
18. Sommer, R., & Paxson, V. (2010). Outside the Closed World: On Using Machine Learning
for Network Intrusion Detection. IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, 305-316.
https://doi.org/10.1109/SP.2010.25
19. Shone, N., Ngoc, T. N., Phai, V. D., & Shi, Q. (2018). A Deep Learning Approach to
Network Intrusion Detection. IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computational
Intelligence, 2(1), https://doi.org/10.1109/TETCI.2017.2772792
20. Khan, F. A., Gani, A., Wahab, A. W. A., Rodrigues, J. J. P. C., & Ko, K. (2021).
Explainable Machine Learning Based Cybersecurity Threat Detection. Future Generation
Computer Systems, 115(1), 56-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2020.07.018
21. Laskov, P., Düssel, P., Schäfer, C., & Rieck, K. (2005). Learning Intrusion Detection:
Supervised or Unsupervised? International Conference on Image Analysis and Processing,
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