MAGNETO and deepinsight: Extended image translation with semantic relationships for classifying attack data with machine learning models

The translation of traffic flow data into images for the purposes of classification in machine learning tasks has been extensively explored in recent years. However, the method of translation has a significant impact on the success of such attempts. In 2019, a method called DeepInsight was developed to translate genetic information into images. It was then adopted in 2021 for the purpose of translating network traffic into images, allowing the retention of semantic data about the relationships between features, in a model called MAGNETO. In this paper, we explore and extend this research, using the MAGNETO algorithm on three new intrusion detection datasets—CICDDoS2019, 5G-NIDD, and BOT-IoT—and also extend this method into the realm of multiclass classification tasks using first a One versus Rest model, followed by a full multiclass classification task, using multiple new classifiers for comparison against the CNNs implemented by the original MAGNETO model. We have also undertaken comparative experiments on the original MAGNETO datasets, CICIDS17, KDD99, and UNSW-NB15, as well as a comparison for other state-of-the-art models using the NSL-KDD dataset. The results show that the MAGNETO algorithm and the DeepInsight translation method, without the use of data augmentation, offer a significant boost to accuracy when classifying network traffic data. Our research also shows the effectiveness of Decision Tree and Random Forest classifiers on this type of data. Further research into the potential for real-time execution is needed to explore the possibilities for extending this method of translation into real-world scenarios.