Research on encrypted malicious traffic detection in power information interaction: application of the electricity multi-granularity flow representation learning approach

Abstract With the rapid digital transformation of power systems, encrypted communication technologies are increasingly adopted to enhance data privacy and security. However, this trend also creates potential covert channels for malicious traffic, making the detection of encrypted malicious traffic a...

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Main Authors: Zhifu Wu, Xianfu Zhou, Xindai Lu, Liqiang Yang, Siqi Shen, Dong Yan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-05-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-02565-z
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author Zhifu Wu
Xianfu Zhou
Xindai Lu
Liqiang Yang
Siqi Shen
Dong Yan
author_facet Zhifu Wu
Xianfu Zhou
Xindai Lu
Liqiang Yang
Siqi Shen
Dong Yan
author_sort Zhifu Wu
collection DOAJ
description Abstract With the rapid digital transformation of power systems, encrypted communication technologies are increasingly adopted to enhance data privacy and security. However, this trend also creates potential covert channels for malicious traffic, making the detection of encrypted malicious traffic a critical challenge. Current detection methods often struggle to capture both fine-grained semantic interactions during the TLS handshake and global temporal patterns in traffic behavior, particularly in domain-specific contexts like power systems. This paper proposes the Electricity Multi-Granularity Flow Representation Learning (E-MGFlow) approach to address these issues. E-MGFlow integrates field-level and packet-level granularity analyses, leveraging a multi-head attention mechanism and bidirectional LSTM to effectively capture local semantic details and global traffic dynamics. The method is further optimized for power systems by incorporating device state information and bidirectional communication features. Experimental results on the DataCon dataset and a power information interaction dataset demonstrate that E-MGFlow significantly improves detection performance, achieving 93.64% precision and 93.76% recall with a low false positive rate of 6.52%. The approach offers substantial practical value for securing power system networks against sophisticated cyber threats, ensuring timely detection and defense against potential attacks.
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issn 2045-2322
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publishDate 2025-05-01
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spelling doaj-art-e785fd1db0ef46ccabb065bc088bd9a12025-08-20T02:34:06ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-05-0115111410.1038/s41598-025-02565-zResearch on encrypted malicious traffic detection in power information interaction: application of the electricity multi-granularity flow representation learning approachZhifu Wu0Xianfu Zhou1Xindai Lu2Liqiang Yang3Siqi Shen4Dong Yan5State Grid Corporation of ChinaHuzhou Power Supply Company, State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co., Ltd.State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co., Ltd.Huzhou Power Supply Company, State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co., Ltd.State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co., Ltd.Huzhou Power Supply Company, State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co., Ltd.Abstract With the rapid digital transformation of power systems, encrypted communication technologies are increasingly adopted to enhance data privacy and security. However, this trend also creates potential covert channels for malicious traffic, making the detection of encrypted malicious traffic a critical challenge. Current detection methods often struggle to capture both fine-grained semantic interactions during the TLS handshake and global temporal patterns in traffic behavior, particularly in domain-specific contexts like power systems. This paper proposes the Electricity Multi-Granularity Flow Representation Learning (E-MGFlow) approach to address these issues. E-MGFlow integrates field-level and packet-level granularity analyses, leveraging a multi-head attention mechanism and bidirectional LSTM to effectively capture local semantic details and global traffic dynamics. The method is further optimized for power systems by incorporating device state information and bidirectional communication features. Experimental results on the DataCon dataset and a power information interaction dataset demonstrate that E-MGFlow significantly improves detection performance, achieving 93.64% precision and 93.76% recall with a low false positive rate of 6.52%. The approach offers substantial practical value for securing power system networks against sophisticated cyber threats, ensuring timely detection and defense against potential attacks.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-02565-zCrypto malicious traffic detectionMulti-granularity representation learningPower systemsNetwork securityInformation interaction
spellingShingle Zhifu Wu
Xianfu Zhou
Xindai Lu
Liqiang Yang
Siqi Shen
Dong Yan
Research on encrypted malicious traffic detection in power information interaction: application of the electricity multi-granularity flow representation learning approach
Scientific Reports
Crypto malicious traffic detection
Multi-granularity representation learning
Power systems
Network security
Information interaction
title Research on encrypted malicious traffic detection in power information interaction: application of the electricity multi-granularity flow representation learning approach
title_full Research on encrypted malicious traffic detection in power information interaction: application of the electricity multi-granularity flow representation learning approach
title_fullStr Research on encrypted malicious traffic detection in power information interaction: application of the electricity multi-granularity flow representation learning approach
title_full_unstemmed Research on encrypted malicious traffic detection in power information interaction: application of the electricity multi-granularity flow representation learning approach
title_short Research on encrypted malicious traffic detection in power information interaction: application of the electricity multi-granularity flow representation learning approach
title_sort research on encrypted malicious traffic detection in power information interaction application of the electricity multi granularity flow representation learning approach
topic Crypto malicious traffic detection
Multi-granularity representation learning
Power systems
Network security
Information interaction
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-02565-z
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