AI Cyber Defense / Network detection, DNS and egress analytics
AI Cyber Defense: Detect periodic outbound traffic without assuming a fixed beacon
Score periodicity alongside new destination access and host behavior. Preserve raw intervals for analyst review instead of alerting only on a derived score.
Environment and inputs: Network detection and response using resolver logs, proxy metadata, flow records and optional Zeek or Suricata sensors.
Scenario and goal
An automated attacker can vary timing, while legitimate monitoring software may be highly periodic.
Why it matters
For this scenario, expect behavior to vary across destinations, timing and client software. Network metadata supports a hypothesis, while endpoint and identity records often explain the actor and purpose. Account for encryption, sampling and sensor placement before interpreting absence. A statistical anomaly, protocol fingerprint or unfamiliar domain should remain a supporting observation until its consequence and business context are established.
Evidence to collect
Use connection time series, byte ratios, destination history and process lineage where available. Document sampling and missing intervals.
Validate with an authorized exercise
Evaluate a regular health-check fixture, an irregular synthetic callback fixture and random traffic; confirm findings retain uncertainty and do not depend on one exact interval.
Rollout and checks
Preserve event time, source tuple, sensor identity and the original record identifier for every decisive observation. Verify clock alignment and collection health before joining sources. Compare a representative benign workload with the suspected behavior in a lab or stored-event replay. Adjust a detection only after documenting which observed distinction justifies the change.
Scope and limits
This guide proposes a defensive test; it is not a tested production design. Check platform support and local requirements. References explain the mechanisms but do not certify the design. Behavior alone does not prove AI involvement.