Network traffic prediction plays a vital role in effective network management, load evaluation and security warning. Extreme learning machine has the advantages of fast convergence speed and strong generalization ability. Also, it does not easily fall into local optima. The evolutionary algorithm can be used to optimize the number of its hidden layer nodes. However, most of the existing evolutionary algorithms have some adjustable parameters which depend on subjective experience or prior knowledge. Hence, this can affect the model prediction accuracy. Given this context, this paper proposes a network traffic prediction mechanism based on optimized Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD) and Integrated Extreme Learning Machine (ELM). A Scalable Artificial Bee Colony (SABC) algorithm which has fewer adjustable parameters and can thus guarantee the accuracy and stability of the prediction mechanism is also proposed. It can be used in the optimization selection of VMD, Phase Space Reconstruction (PSR) and ELM to achieve higher prediction performance. Finally, we utilize Mackey-Glass, Lorenz chaotic time series of recognized benchmark and a WIDE backbone actual network traffic data to prove the validity of the proposed network traffic prediction mechanism.

Network traffic is a typical nonlinear time series. As such, traditional linear and nonlinear models are inadequate to describe the multi-scale characteristics of traffic, thus compromising the prediction accuracy. Therefore, the research to date has tended to focus on hybrid models rather than the traditional linear and non-linear ones. Generally, a hybrid model adopts two or more methods as combined modelling to analyze and then predict the network traffic. Against this backdrop, this paper will review past research conducted on hybrid network traffic prediction models. The review concludes with a summary of the strengths and limitations of existing hybrid network prediction models which use optimization and decomposition techniques, respectively. These two techniques have been identified as major contributing factors in constructing a more accurate and fast response hybrid network traffic prediction.

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The 21st century is a high-tech information era in which our lives are closely linked by computer networks. Hence, how to effectively supervise networks and reduce the frequency of network security incidents has now become a research hotspot in cyberspace. Specifically, researchers have shown an increased interest in predicting the network traffic before any untoward incident happens. Optimization and decomposition technologies are the core components of network traffic prediction model which plays an important role in network management. This paper discusses past network traffic prediction research and critically examines the optimization and decomposition technologies used in the model, lists the model parameter structure based on the research methodology, the data set used, the evaluation criteria and so on. By comparison, digging out the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm and the Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD) decomposition technique will effectively solve the network traffic model predictive difficulties that have proven to be crucial to improving predictive accuracy and convergence speed strategy.The comprehensive review reveals that PSO and VMD are the most suitable optimization algorithm and decomposition technology for network traffic prediction modeling.

Deep learning technology is changing the landscape of cybersecurity research, especially the study of large amounts of data. With the rapid growth in the number of malware, developing of an efficient and reliable method for classifying malware has become one of the research priorities. In this paper, a new method, BIR-CNN, is proposed to classify of Android malware. It combines convolution neural network (CNN) with batch normalization and inception-residual (BIR) network modules by using 347-dim network traffic features. CNN combines inception-residual modules with a convolution layer that can enhance the learning ability of the model. Batch Normalization can speed up the training process and avoid over-fitting of the model. Finally, experiments are conducted on the publicly available network traffic dataset CICAndMal2017 and compared with three traditional machine learning algorithms and CNN. The accuracy of BIR-CNN is 99.73% in binary classification (2-classifier). Moreover, the BIR-CNN can classify malware by its category (4-classifier) and malicious family (35-classifier), with a classification accuracy of 99.53% and 94.38%, respectively. The experimental results show that the proposed model is an effective method for Android malware classification, especially in malware category and family classifier.