KronNet a lightweight Kronecker enhanced feed forward neural network for efficient IoT intrusion detection

Abstract The rapid expansion of Internet of Things (IoT) networks necessitates efficient intrusion detection systems (IDS) capable of operating within the stringent resource constraints of IoT devices. This study introduces KronNet, a lightweight feed-forward neural network enhanced with Kronecker p...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Saeed Ullah, Junsheng Wu, Mian Muhammad Kamal, Abdul Khader Jilani Saudagar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-07-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08921-3
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849403059940098048
author Saeed Ullah
Junsheng Wu
Mian Muhammad Kamal
Abdul Khader Jilani Saudagar
author_facet Saeed Ullah
Junsheng Wu
Mian Muhammad Kamal
Abdul Khader Jilani Saudagar
author_sort Saeed Ullah
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The rapid expansion of Internet of Things (IoT) networks necessitates efficient intrusion detection systems (IDS) capable of operating within the stringent resource constraints of IoT devices. This study introduces KronNet, a lightweight feed-forward neural network enhanced with Kronecker product operations, designed for real-time IoT intrusion detection. KronNet leverages Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM)-based oversampling and a hybrid loss function combining Focal Loss and Cross-Entropy with adaptive class weighting to address class imbalance, ensuring robust detection across diverse attack types. Evaluated on the CICIoT2023 and BoT-IoT datasets, KronNet achieves exceptional performance, with accuracies of 99.01% and 99.91%, weighted F1-scores of 99.01% and 99.91%, and low false positive rates of 0.03% and 0.01%, respectively. The model operates with minimal computational overhead, utilizing 5,074 parameters (19.82 KB) for CICIoT2023 and 4,703 parameters (18.37 KB) for BoT-IoT, with inference times of 0.209 ms and 0.208 ms. Post-quantization, memory usage reduces to 4.96 KB and 4.59 KB, with negligible accuracy degradation (0.06% and 0.01% loss). Compared to state-of-the-art models, KronNet demonstrates up to 15,829× lower FLOPS and 12,010× faster inference, making it a highly efficient solution for edge deployment in resource-constrained IoT environments. This work advances IoT cybersecurity by delivering a scalable, accurate, and lightweight IDS capable of real-time threat detection.
format Article
id doaj-art-71d0ed5a9a9a44cbaa1edbfa33822d60
institution Kabale University
issn 2045-2322
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series Scientific Reports
spelling doaj-art-71d0ed5a9a9a44cbaa1edbfa33822d602025-08-20T03:37:22ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-07-0115112410.1038/s41598-025-08921-3KronNet a lightweight Kronecker enhanced feed forward neural network for efficient IoT intrusion detectionSaeed Ullah0Junsheng Wu1Mian Muhammad Kamal2Abdul Khader Jilani Saudagar3School of Software, Northwestern Polytechnical UniversitySchool of Software, Northwestern Polytechnical UniversitySchool of Electronic and Communication Engineering, Quanzhou University of Information EngineeringInformation Systems Department, College of Computer and Information Sciences, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU)Abstract The rapid expansion of Internet of Things (IoT) networks necessitates efficient intrusion detection systems (IDS) capable of operating within the stringent resource constraints of IoT devices. This study introduces KronNet, a lightweight feed-forward neural network enhanced with Kronecker product operations, designed for real-time IoT intrusion detection. KronNet leverages Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM)-based oversampling and a hybrid loss function combining Focal Loss and Cross-Entropy with adaptive class weighting to address class imbalance, ensuring robust detection across diverse attack types. Evaluated on the CICIoT2023 and BoT-IoT datasets, KronNet achieves exceptional performance, with accuracies of 99.01% and 99.91%, weighted F1-scores of 99.01% and 99.91%, and low false positive rates of 0.03% and 0.01%, respectively. The model operates with minimal computational overhead, utilizing 5,074 parameters (19.82 KB) for CICIoT2023 and 4,703 parameters (18.37 KB) for BoT-IoT, with inference times of 0.209 ms and 0.208 ms. Post-quantization, memory usage reduces to 4.96 KB and 4.59 KB, with negligible accuracy degradation (0.06% and 0.01% loss). Compared to state-of-the-art models, KronNet demonstrates up to 15,829× lower FLOPS and 12,010× faster inference, making it a highly efficient solution for edge deployment in resource-constrained IoT environments. This work advances IoT cybersecurity by delivering a scalable, accurate, and lightweight IDS capable of real-time threat detection.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08921-3IoT intrusion detectionKronecker productGaussian mixture model (GMM)Lightweight deep learningResource-constrained environmentEdge deployment
spellingShingle Saeed Ullah
Junsheng Wu
Mian Muhammad Kamal
Abdul Khader Jilani Saudagar
KronNet a lightweight Kronecker enhanced feed forward neural network for efficient IoT intrusion detection
Scientific Reports
IoT intrusion detection
Kronecker product
Gaussian mixture model (GMM)
Lightweight deep learning
Resource-constrained environment
Edge deployment
title KronNet a lightweight Kronecker enhanced feed forward neural network for efficient IoT intrusion detection
title_full KronNet a lightweight Kronecker enhanced feed forward neural network for efficient IoT intrusion detection
title_fullStr KronNet a lightweight Kronecker enhanced feed forward neural network for efficient IoT intrusion detection
title_full_unstemmed KronNet a lightweight Kronecker enhanced feed forward neural network for efficient IoT intrusion detection
title_short KronNet a lightweight Kronecker enhanced feed forward neural network for efficient IoT intrusion detection
title_sort kronnet a lightweight kronecker enhanced feed forward neural network for efficient iot intrusion detection
topic IoT intrusion detection
Kronecker product
Gaussian mixture model (GMM)
Lightweight deep learning
Resource-constrained environment
Edge deployment
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08921-3
work_keys_str_mv AT saeedullah kronnetalightweightkroneckerenhancedfeedforwardneuralnetworkforefficientiotintrusiondetection
AT junshengwu kronnetalightweightkroneckerenhancedfeedforwardneuralnetworkforefficientiotintrusiondetection
AT mianmuhammadkamal kronnetalightweightkroneckerenhancedfeedforwardneuralnetworkforefficientiotintrusiondetection
AT abdulkhaderjilanisaudagar kronnetalightweightkroneckerenhancedfeedforwardneuralnetworkforefficientiotintrusiondetection