A Comparative Evaluation of Machine Learning Algorithms for the Prediction of R/C Buildings' Seismic Damage

Seismic assessment of buildings and determination of their structural damage is at the forefront of modern scientific research. Since now, several researchers have proposed a number of procedures, in an attempt to estimate the damage response of the buildings subjected to strong ground motions, without conducting time-consuming analyses. These procedures, e.g. construction of fragility curves, usually utilize methods based on the application of statistical theory. In the last decades, the increase of the computers' power has led to the development of modern soft computing methods based on the adoption of Machine Learning algorithms. The present paper attempts an extensive comparative evaluation of the capability of various Machine Learning methods to adequately predict the seismic response of R/C buildings. The training dataset is created by means of Nonlinear Time History Analyses of 90 3D R/C buildings with three different masonry infills' distributions, which are subjected to 65 earthquakes. The seismic damage is expressed in terms of the Maximum Interstory Drift Ratio. A large-scale comparison study is utilized by the most efficient Machine Learning algorithms. The experimentation shows that the LightGBM approach produces training stability, high overall performance and a remarkable coefficient of determination to estimate the ability to predict the buildings' damage response. Due to the extremely urgent issue, civil protection mechanisms need to incorporate in their technological systems scientific methodologies and appropriate technical or modeling tools such as the proposed one, which can offer valuable assistance in making optimal decisions.

Blockchained Federated Learning for Threat Defense

Given the increasing complexity of threats in smart cities, the changing environment, and the weakness of traditional security systems, which in most cases fail to detect serious threats such as zero-day attacks, the need for alternative more active and more effective security methods keeps increasing. Such approaches are the adoption of intelligent solutions to prevent, detect and deal with threats or anomalies under the conditions and the operating parameters of the infrastructure in question. This research paper introduces the development of an intelligent Threat Defense system, employing Blockchain Federated Learning, which seeks to fully upgrade the way passive intelligent systems operate, aiming at implementing an Advanced Adaptive Cooperative Learning (AACL) mechanism for smart cities networks. The AACL is based on the most advanced methods of computational intelligence while ensuring privacy and anonymity for participants and stakeholders. The proposed framework combines Federated Learning for the distributed and continuously validated learning of the tracing algorithms. Learning is achieved through encrypted smart contracts within the blockchain technology, for unambiguous validation and control of the process. The aim of the proposed Framework is to intelligently classify smart cities networks traffic derived from Industrial IoT (IIoT) by Deep Content Inspection (DCI) methods, in order to identify anomalies that are usually due to Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) attacks.

Darknet Traffic Big-Data Analysis and Network Management to Real-Time Automating the Malicious Intent Detection Process by a Weight Agnostic Neural Networks Framework

Attackers are perpetually modifying their tactics to avoid detection and frequently leverage legitimate credentials with trusted tools already deployed in a network environment, making it difficult for organizations to proactively identify critical security risks. Network traffic analysis products have emerged in response to attackers relentless innovation, offering organizations a realistic path forward for combatting creative attackers. Additionally, thanks to the widespread adoption of cloud computing, Device Operators processes, and the Internet of Things, maintaining effective network visibility has become a highly complex and overwhelming process. What makes network traffic analysis technology particularly meaningful is its ability to combine its core capabilities to deliver malicious intent detection. In this paper, we propose a novel darknet traffic analysis and network management framework to real-time automating the malicious intent detection process, using a weight agnostic neural networks architecture. It is an effective and accurate computational intelligent forensics tool for network traffic analysis, the demystification of malware traffic, and encrypted traffic identification in real-time. Based on Weight Agnostic Neural Networks methodology, we propose an automated searching neural net architectures strategy that can perform various tasks such as identify zero-day attacks. By automating the malicious intent detection process from the darknet, the advanced proposed solution is reducing the skills and effort barrier that prevents many organizations from effectively protecting their most critical assets.