Genetic Algorithm with Variable Length Chromosomes for Network Intrusion Detection

Abstract

Genetic algorithm(GA) has received significant attention for the design and implementation of intrusion detection systems. In this paper, it is proposed to use variable length chromosomes(VLCs) in a GA-based network intrusion detection system.Fewer chromosomes with relevant features are used for rule generation. An effective fitness function is used to define the fitness of each rule. Each chromosome will have one or more rules in it. As each chromosome is a complete solution to the problem, fewer chromosomes are sufficient for effective intrusion detection. This reduces the computational time. The proposed approach is tested using Defense Advanced Research Project Agency(DARPA) 1998 data. The experimental results show that the proposed approach is efficient in network intrusion detection.