Detection of Illicit Network Activities Based on Multivariate Gaussian Fitting of Multi-Scale Traffic Characteristics

The Internet is going under significant changes as several new emerging technologies will certainly revolutionize the way users interact with its contents. For example, Web 2.0 sites such as Facebook and Twitter, which allow users to interact, publish and share information and contents, are becoming widely popular. HTML 5, which incorporates features that were dependent on third-party plug-ins, promises a complete change on the way the Web is experienced. However, these technologies may provide a whole new branch of opportunities and vulnerabilities for attackers to exploit. In fact, some compromised social network accounts are already being used to direct other users to phishing sites or to download infected files.