Cited by 66Network Security and Intrusion DetectionInformation and Cyber SecurityAnomaly Detection Techniques and Applications

Evaluating Insider Threat Detection Workflow Using Supervised and Unsupervised Learning

Open access
Le, Duc C., Zincir-Heywood, A. Nur·2018·2018 IEEE Security and Privacy Workshops (SPW)

Abstract

Insider threat is a prominent cyber-security danger faced by organizations and companies. In this research, we study and evaluate an insider threat detection workflow using supervised and unsupervised learning algorithms. To this end, we study data exploration and analysis, anomaly detection and malicious behaviour classification on a publicly available data set. We evaluate several supervised and unsupervised learning algorithms - HMM, SOM, and DT - using this workflow.

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Registry

Crossref · 10.1109/spw.2018.00043

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14 of 14 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Hybrid pipelines combining NLP and DL offer a promising avenue for real-time log analysis, addressing static nature of datasets like CERT (17-month window) and delay in models like LSTM-RNN (93.85% accuracy).

    “Hybrid pipelines combining NLP and DL offer a promising avenue for real-time log analysis, addressing the static nature of datasets like CERT (17-month window [7]) and the delay in models like LSTM-RNN (93.85% accuracy [21]).”

    From A systematic review on insider threat detection using natural language processing (2025) · cites this paper as [7]

    The citation [7] is attached to the CERT dataset’s claimed 17-month window, not the LSTM-RNN result. The paper’s “A. CERT insider threat dataset” section says that 18 months of data were extracted, contrary to the cited figure. The sentence’s proposal for a hybrid pipeline is not directly attributed to this source. (LLM, conf=0.89)

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  • Comparing CERT 4.1 and 4.2, the latter's increased malicious activity (7% vs. lower rates in 4.1) and expanded feature set make it more suitable for dense threat detection.

    “Comparing 4.1 and 4.2, the latter's increased malicious activity (7% vs. lower rates in 4.1) and expanded feature set make it more suitable for dense threat detection, as evidenced by higher accuracy in recent models [6,7].”

    From A systematic review on insider threat detection using natural language processing (2025) · cites this paper as [7]

    The CERT insider threat dataset section says release 4.2 has significantly more insider-threat incidents than other releases, allowing tests across more diverse scenarios. It does not give a 7% malicious-activity rate, identify an expanded feature set relative to 4.1, or compare model accuracy across the two releases. The Conclusion instead reports that malicious instances comprise 0.39% of weekly and 0.29% of daily preprocessed data in 4.2. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • CERT Dataset is best suited for log-based and behavioral analysis due to comprehensive coverage of user activities, supporting NER and graph-based models with 93.97% accuracy.

    “The CERT Dataset is best suited for log-based and behavioral analysis due to its comprehensive coverage of user activities, supporting techniques like NER and graph-based models with 93.97% accuracy [7,39].”

    From A systematic review on insider threat detection using natural language processing (2025) · cites this paper as [7]

    The CERT insider threat dataset section describes records of logins, email, web, file, and device activity, supporting its use for log-based behavioral analysis. The paper evaluates hidden Markov models, self-organizing maps, and decision trees; it does not support the attributed NER or graph-based models, a 93.97% accuracy for them, or the claim that CERT is 'best suited' for this analysis. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Studies using CERT 4.2 (7% malicious activity) and Contrastive Learning (100% precision on CERT) predominantly frame detection as a two-class problem, achieving high metrics but overlooking diversity of insider threat types.

    “The manuscript's studies, such as those using CERT 4.2 (7% malicious activity [7]) and Contrastive Learning (100% precision on CERT [16]), predominantly frame detection as a two-class problem, achieving high metrics but overlooking the diversity of insider threat types.”

    From A systematic review on insider threat detection using natural language processing (2025) · cites this paper as [7]

    The CERT insider threat dataset section says the study used release 4.2. But the passage labeled V. Conclusion reports that insider-threat instances were 0.39% of weekly and 0.29% of daily preprocessed data, not 7%. The contrastive-learning result is attached to a different citation, and the broader characterization is the citing authors’ framing. (LLM, conf=0.89)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Advanced models such as BERT, RoBERTa, and DD-GCN achieve high accuracies (e.g., >94% on CERT 4.2 and 96.26%-96.70% on CERT 6.2), leveraging deep learning to capture intricate patterns in textual data like emails and logs.

    “Advanced models such as BERT, RoBERTa, and Dual-Domain Graph Convolutional Networks (DD-GCN) achieve high accuracies (e.g., >94% on CERT 4.2 [25] and 96.26%-96.70% on CERT 6.2 [7]), leveraging deep learning to capture intricate patterns in textual data like emails and logs.”

    From A systematic review on insider threat detection using natural language processing (2025) · cites this paper as [7]

    The CERT insider threat dataset section says the study used release 4.2, and Table I reports accuracies above 94% for its C4.5 decision tree. Those figures do not establish the attributed performance of BERT, RoBERTa, or DD-GCN: the paper evaluates HMM, SOM, and decision-tree methods, not those deep-learning models. The CERT 6.2 figure is attached to a different citation in the citing sentence and is not assessed here. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. [3]3. T. Rashid, I. Agrafiotis, and J. R. Nurse, "A new take on detecting insider threats," in International Workshop on Managing Insider Security Threats, 2016, pp. 47-56.
  2. [4]4. G. Gavai et al., "Supervised and unsupervised methods to detect insider threat from enterprise social and online activ- ity data," Journal of Wireless Mobile Networks, Ubiquitous Computing, and Dependable Applications (JoWUA), vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 47-63, December 2015.
  3. [16]16. T. Kohonen, Self-Organizing Maps, ser. Springer Series in Information Sciences, 2001, vol. 30.

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Authors
Le, D. C., & Zincir-Heywood, A. N.
Affiliations
Dalhousie University (CA)
Venue
2018 IEEE Security and Privacy Workshops (SPW)
Publisher
IEEE
Published
2018-05
Pages
270-275
OpenAlex
W2887799638
Cited by
66
References
14
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1
FWCI
3.93
Type
conference paper
Language
en
Open access
Locations
IEEE Security and Privacy Workshops (SPW) (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Networks and Communications › Network Security and Intrusion Detection
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Information and Cyber Security
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Anomaly Detection Techniques and Applications
Keywords
insider threat detection, anomaly detection, hidden Markov models, self-organizing maps, decision tree, supervised learning, unsupervised learning, cybersecurity

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