Comparing Machine Learning Algorithms for BGP Anomaly Detection Using Graph Features

Odnan Ref Sanchez , Simone Ferlin , Cristel Pelsser and Randy Bush

Big-DAMA December 2019 Pages 35--41
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Abstract

The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) coordinates the connectivity and reachability among Autonomous Systems, providing efficient operation of the global Internet. Historically, BGP anomalies have disrupted network connections on a global scale, i.e., detecting them is of great importance. Today, Machine Learning (ML) methods have improved BGP anomaly detection using volume and path features of BGP's update messages, which are often noisy and bursty. In this work, we identified different graph features to detect BGP anomalies, which are arguably more robust than traditional features. We evaluate such features through an extensive comparison of different ML algorithms, i.e., Naive Bayes classifier (NB), Decision Trees (DT), Random Forests (RF), Support Vector Machines (SVM), and Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP), to specifically detect BGP path leaks. We show that SVM offers a good trade-off between precision and recall. Finally, we provide insights into the graph features' characteristics during the anomalous and non-anomalous interval and provide an interpretation of the ML classifier results.

Publication Details

Publication Type
Conference Paper
Publication Date
December 2019
Published In
Big-DAMA
Pages
35--41
Location
Orlando, FL, USA
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1145/3359992.3366640

BibTeX Citation

@inproceedings{Sanchez2019,
	title        = {Comparing Machine Learning Algorithms for BGP Anomaly Detection Using Graph Features},
	author       = {Sanchez, Odnan Ref and Ferlin, Simone and Pelsser, Cristel and Bush, Randy},
	year         = 2019,
	month        = dec,
	booktitle    = {Big-DAMA},
	location     = {Orlando, FL, USA},
	series       = {Big-DAMA '19},
	pages        = {35--41},
	doi          = {10.1145/3359992.3366640},
	url          = {http://icube-publis.unistra.fr/4-RFPB19},
	organization = {IEE},
	abstract     = {The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) coordinates the connectivity and reachability among Autonomous Systems, providing efficient operation of the global Internet. Historically, BGP anomalies have disrupted network connections on a global scale, i.e., detecting them is of great importance. Today, Machine Learning (ML) methods have improved BGP anomaly detection using volume and path features of BGP's update messages, which are often noisy and bursty. In this work, we identified different graph features to detect BGP anomalies, which are arguably more robust than traditional features. We evaluate such features through an extensive comparison of different ML algorithms, i.e., Naive Bayes classifier (NB), Decision Trees (DT), Random Forests (RF), Support Vector Machines (SVM), and Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP), to specifically detect BGP path leaks. We show that SVM offers a good trade-off between precision and recall. Finally, we provide insights into the graph features' characteristics during the anomalous and non-anomalous interval and provide an interpretation of the ML classifier results.},
	groups       = {International Conferences},
	keywords     = {graph features, machine learning algorithms, anomaly detection, BGP},
	numpages     = 7,
	x-international-audience = {Yes},
	x-language   = {EN}
}

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