A Self-Adaptive Deep Learning-Based System for Anomaly Detection in 5G Networks

The upcoming fifth-generation (5G) mobile technology, which includes advanced communication features, is posing new challenges on cybersecurity defense systems. Although innovative approaches have evolved in the last few years, 5G will make existing intrusion detection and defense procedures become obsolete, in case they are not adapted accordingly. In this sense, this paper proposes a novel 5G-oriented cyberdefense architecture to identify cyberthreats in 5G mobile networks efficient and quickly enough. For this, our architecture uses deep learning techniques to analyze network traffic by extracting features from network flows. Moreover, our proposal allows adapting, automatically, the configuration of the cyberdefense architecture in order to manage traffic fluctuation, aiming both to optimize the computing resources needed in each particular moment and to fine tune the behavior and the performance of analysis and detection processes. Experiments using a well-known botnet data set depict how a neural network model reaches a sufficient classification accuracy in our anomaly detection system. Extended experiments using diverse deep learning solutions analyze and determine their suitability and performance for different network traffic loads. The experimental results show how our architecture can self-adapt the anomaly detection system based on the volume of network flows gathered from 5G subscribers' user equipments in real-time and optimizing the resource consumption.