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Data Analysis

FlowMeter observes the following features from packets and constructs flows.

  • Inter-arrival time

    • Forward inter-arrival time per microsecond
    • Backward inter-arrival time per microsecond
    • Forward inter-arrival time mean
    • Backward inter-arrival time mean
    • Forward inter-arrival time standard deviation
    • Backward inter-arrival time standard deviation
    • Forward inter-arrival time minimum
    • Backward inter-arrival time minimum
    • Forward inter-arrival time maximum
    • Backward inter-arrival time maximum

  • Packet size

    • Total (forward + backward) packet size per microsecond
    • Forward packet size per microsecond
    • Backward packet size per microsecond
    • Forward packet size mean
    • Backward packet size mean
    • Forward packet size standard deviation
    • Backward packet size standard deviation
    • Forward packet size minimum
    • Backward packet size minimum
    • Forward packet size maximum
    • Backward packet size maximum

  • Flow length

    • Total flow length per microsecond
    • Forward flow length per microsecond
    • Backward flow length per microsecond

  • Flow duration

    • Total flow duration

With these observed features, FlowMeter can robustly differentiate between malicious and benign flows.

Examples​

The following examples illustrate how FlowMeter can differentiate between benign and malicious traffic, based on the above metrics:

FlowMeter fwdPacketSizeMaxFlowMeter fwdPacketSizeTotal
Profiles of maximum of forward packet sizes shows clear distinction in benign and malicious flow data.Profiles of maximum of forward flow lengths shows clear distinction in benign and malicious flow data.
FlowMeter fwdIATMeanFlowMeter bwdIATMean
Profiles of forward inter-arrival time mean shows clear distinction between benign and malicious flow data.Profiles of backward inter-arrival time mean shows clear distinction between benign and malicious flow data.