Researchers with Carnegie Mellon University have developed an accurate system for predicting user exposure to malicious websites based on three categories of user behavior: contextual information, i.e. information on an active browsing session; past browsing behavior; and survey information reported by the user. The system enabled the researchers to predict a user’s exposure to a malicious website seconds in advance. In addition, the system could detect malicious websites before they had been blacklisted.
These findings are very promising because they highlight new possibilities for a proactive approach to cyber defense. As one of the researchers explained: “Now we can use the predictions to proactively protect users, thus adding a complementary line of defense to the existing reactive defenses.”
Read more: Carnegie Mellon Researchers Use Mobile Users Behavior to Predict Exposure to Malicious Websites
