Research on internet traffic classification techniques using supervised machine learning

Interact traffic classification is vital to the areas of network operation and management. Traditional classification methods such as port mapping and payload analysis are becoming increasingly difficult as newly emerged applications （e. g. Peer-to-Peer） using dynamic port numbers, masquerading techniques and encryption to avoid detection. This paper presents a machine learning （ML） based traffic classifica- tion scheme, which offers solutions to a variety of network activities and provides a platform of performance evaluation for the classifiers. The impact of dataset size, feature selection, number of application types and ML algorithm selection on classification performance is analyzed and demonstrated by the following experiments： （1） The genetic algorithm based feature selection can dramatically reduce the cost without diminishing classification accuracy. （2） The chosen ML algorithms can achieve high classification accuracy. Particularly, REPTree and C4.5 outperform the other ML algorithms when computational complexity and accuracy are both taken into account. （3） Larger dataset and fewer application types would result in better classification accuracy. Finally, early detection with only several initial packets is proposed for real-time network activity and it is proved to be feasible according to the preliminary results.

Internet traffic classification is vital to the areas of network operation and management. Traditionalclassification methods such as port mapping and payload analysis are becoming increasingly difficult asnewly emerged applications (e.g. Peer-to-Peer) using dynamic port numbers, masquerading techniquesand encryption to avoid detection. This paper presents a machine learning (ML) based traffic classificationscheme, which offers solutions to a variety of network activities and provides a platform of performanceevaluation for the classifiers. The impact of dataset size, feature selection, number of applicationtypes and ML algorithm selection on classification performance is analyzed and demonstrated by the followingexperiments: (1) The genetic algorithm based feature selection can dramatically reduce the costwithout diminishing classification accuracy. (2) The chosen ML algorithms can achieve high classificationaccuracy. Particularly, REPTree and C4.5 outperform the other ML algorithms when computational complexityand accuracy are both taken into account. (3) Larger dataset and fewer application types wouldresult in better classification accuracy. Finally, early detection with only several initial packets is proposedfor real-time network activity and it is proved to be feasible according to the preliminary results.