Hypergraph-Based Detection of Suspicious User Activities

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional attack detection systems are reactive, often ineffective until after an attack has occurred, and struggle to detect malicious accounts in their incubation stages, relying on manual efforts and failing to capture large-scale, coordinated attacks due to their isolated examination of events.

Innovation Solution

The system constructs and analyzes hypergraphs to detect malicious accounts and events without training data, using community detection algorithms and graph diffusion processes to identify suspicious nodes and communities, enabling proactive detection of stealthy attack patterns.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If conventional attack detection systems examine each user or event in isolation, then the detection process is simple and fast, but the detection accuracy is low and cannot identify coordinated attack patterns

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedetection accuracyVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges multiple isolated detection systems into a unified hypergraph-based detection system that analyzes users, events, and their relationships collectively. By combining separate detection mechanisms into an integrated graph analysis framework, the system achieves higher detection accuracy for coordinated attacks while managing complexity through modular graph construction and analysis components.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent transitions from examining individual users or events in one dimension to analyzing multi-dimensional relationships through hypergraphs. By adding relational dimensions (user-event interactions, account hierarchies, temporal sequences) to the detection framework, the system identifies attack patterns that span multiple dimensions, significantly improving detection accuracy for sophisticated coordinated attacks.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Adaptability or versatility

If the system uses labeled training data to detect malicious accounts, then detection accuracy improves, but the system cannot detect new unseen attacks and requires manual data collection

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveability to detect new attacksVSAvoidtime for data collection and labeling
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The hypergraph-based detection system operates autonomously without requiring manual labeling of training data. The system self-services by automatically constructing hypergraphs from raw event data, computing hyperedge weights based on statistical patterns, and identifying malicious accounts through graph analysis algorithms. This eliminates the time-consuming manual data collection and labeling process while maintaining high adaptability to new attack types.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary analysis by continuously building and updating hypergraphs from incoming event streams, pre-computing statistical properties and relationships. When new attacks occur, the system is already prepared with an updated understanding of normal and suspicious patterns, enabling immediate detection without requiring retrospective data collection or retraining.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Reliability

If the system detects attacks only after they occur, then the detection process is simpler, but the impact of attacks cannot be reduced

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveproactive detection capabilityVSAvoiddetection system complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary detection by analyzing hypergraph patterns as events unfold, identifying suspicious accounts and attack campaigns before they cause significant harm. By continuously monitoring hyperedge weight changes and detecting anomalous patterns in real-time, the system can take proactive measures to mitigate attack impact while maintaining a manageable complexity through efficient graph update algorithms.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

4Quantity of substance

If the system examines each user or event individually, then the processing is faster and simpler, but it cannot capture large-scale coordinated attacks

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvescale of attack detectionVSAvoidanalysis complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges individual user and event analyses into a unified hypergraph framework that processes them collectively. By combining isolated detection units into an integrated graph-based system, the platform achieves the capability to detect large-scale coordinated attacks involving thousands of accounts while managing computational complexity through efficient hypergraph construction and analysis algorithms that scale to big data volumes.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentUS10135788B1Using hypergraphs to determine suspicious user activities
Publication Date: 2018.11.20 DATAVISOR INC
  • US10135788B1 patent drawing
  • US10135788B1 patent drawing
  • US10135788B1 patent drawing

AI summary

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for detecting suspicious user activities. One of the methods includes generating hypergraphs, wherein the hypergraphs include nodes corresponding to feature profiles and edges between particular nodes representing a measure of similarity between nodes; using the generated hypergraphs to detect suspicious graph nodes; and using the suspicious graph nodes to detect malicious user communities.