Applications of Nature-Inspired Algorithms for Dimension Reduction: Enabling Efficient Data Analytics

In [1], we have explored the theoretical aspects of feature selection and evolutionary algorithms. In this chapter, we focus on optimization algorithms for enhancing data analytic process, i.e., we propose to explore applications of nature-inspired algorithms in data science. Feature selection optimization is a hybrid approach leveraging feature selection techniques and evolutionary algorithms process to optimize the selected features. Prior works solve this problem iteratively to converge to an optimal feature subset. Feature selection optimization is a non-specific domain approach. Data scientists mainly attempt to find an advanced way to analyze data n with high computational efficiency and low time complexity, leading to efficient data analytics. Thus, by increasing generated/measured/sensed data from various sources, analysis, manipulation and illustration of data grow exponentially. Due to the large scale data sets, Curse of dimensionality (CoD) is one of the NP-hard problems in data science. Hence, several efforts have been focused on leveraging evolutionary algorithms (EAs) to address the complex issues in large scale data analytics problems. Dimension reduction, together with EAs, lends itself to solve CoD and solve complex problems, in terms of time complexity, efficiently. In this chapter, we first provide a brief overview of previous studies that focused on solving CoD using feature extraction optimization process. We then discuss practical examples of research studies are successfully tackled some application domains, such as image processing, sentiment analysis, network traffics / anomalies analysis, credit score analysis and other benchmark functions/data sets analysis

A Detection Method for Text Steganalysis Using Evolution Algorithm (EA) Approach

The ability of sending a secret message through a network nowadays has become a more challenging and complex process. One of the reasons why we need tools to detect the hidden message is because of security and safety. Secret messages can be both for good or bad, and subversive groups have been known to send secret messages to coordinate their terrorist activities. Thus,a technique such as steganalysis is one method example to detect a secret message. Much of the technical steganalysis work had been carried out on image, video, and audio steganalysis, but in any agency or organisation, all business documents generally uses the natural language in text form or document form. Therefore, this research employed a detection factor based on the evolution algorithm method for text steganalysis. The aim of this project was to detect a hidden message in an observed message using text steganalysis

Evolutionary Computation, Optimization and Learning Algorithms for Data Science

A large number of engineering, science and computational problems have yet to be solved in a computationally efficient way. One of the emerging challenges is how evolving technologies grow towards autonomy and intelligent decision making. This leads to collection of large amounts of data from various sensing and measurement technologies, e.g., cameras, smart phones, health sensors, smart electricity meters, and environment sensors. Hence, it is imperative to develop efficient algorithms for generation, analysis, classification, and illustration of data. Meanwhile, data is structured purposefully through different representations, such as large-scale networks and graphs. We focus on data science as a crucial area, specifically focusing on a curse of dimensionality (CoD) which is due to the large amount of generated/sensed/collected data. This motivates researchers to think about optimization and to apply nature-inspired algorithms, such as evolutionary algorithms (EAs) to solve optimization problems. Although these algorithms look un-deterministic, they are robust enough to reach an optimal solution. Researchers do not adopt evolutionary algorithms unless they face a problem which is suffering from placement in local optimal solution, rather than global optimal solution. In this chapter, we first develop a clear and formal definition of the CoD problem, next we focus on feature extraction techniques and categories, then we provide a general overview of meta-heuristic algorithms, its terminology, and desirable properties of evolutionary algorithms

MODIFIED MULTI-LEVEL STEGANOGRAPHY TO ENHANCE DATA SECURITY

Data-hiding using steganography algorithm becomes an important technique to prevent unauthorized users to have access to a secret data.  In this paper, steganography algorithm has been constructed to hide a secret data in a gray and a color images, this algorithm is named deep hiding/extraction algorithm (DHEA) to modify multi-level steganography (MLS). The suggested hiding algorithm is based on modified least significant bit (MDLSB) to scatter data in a cover-image and it utilizes a number of levels; where each level perform hiding data on a gray image except the last level that applies a color image to keep secret data. Furthermore, proper randomization approach with two layers is implemented; the first layer uses random pixels selection for hiding a secret data at each level, while the second layer implements at the last level to move randomly from segment to the others. In addition, the proposed hiding algorithm implements an effective lossless image compression using DEFLATE algorithm to make it possible to hide data into a next level. Dynamic encryption algorithm based on Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is applied at each level by changing cipher keys (Ck) from level to the next, this approach has been applied to increase the security and working against attackers. Soft computing using a meta-heuristic approach based on artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm has been introduced to achieve smoothing on pixels of stego-image, this approach is effective to reduce the noise caused by a hidden large amount of data and to increase a stego-image quality on the last level. The experimental result demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm with bee colony DHA-ABC to show high-performing to hide a large amount of data up to four bits per pixel (bpp) with high security in terms of hard extraction of a secret message and noise reduction of the stego-image. Moreover, using deep hiding with unlimited levels is promising to confuse attackers and to compress a deep sequence of images into one image

Malware Detection using Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm

Malware detection has become a challenging task due to the increase in the number of malware families. Universal malware detection algorithms that can detect all the malware families are needed to make the whole process feasible. However, the more universal an algorithm is, the higher number of feature dimensions it needs to work with, and that inevitably causes the emerging problem of Curse of Dimensionality (CoD). Besides, it is also difficult to make this solution work due to the real-time behavior of malware analysis. In this paper, we address this problem and aim to propose a feature selection based malware detection algorithm using an evolutionary algorithm that is referred to as Artificial Bee Colony (ABC). The proposed algorithm enables researchers to decrease the feature dimension and as a result, boost the process of malware detection. The experimental results reveal that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art

JPEG steganography with particle swarm optimization accelerated by AVX

Digital steganography aims at hiding secret messages in digital data transmitted over insecure channels. The JPEG format is prevalent in digital communication, and images are often used as cover objects in digital steganography. Optimization methods can improve the properties of images with embedded secret but introduce additional computational complexity to their processing. AVX instructions available in modern CPUs are, in this work, used to accelerate data parallel operations that are part of image steganography with advanced optimizations.Web of Science328art. no. e544

A Low Cost Image Steganalysis by Using Domain Adaptation

Information hiding and data encryption are used widely to protect data and information from anonymous access. In digital world, hiding and encrypting of the desired data into an image is a smart way to protect information with a low cost. In the digital images, steganalysis is a known method to distinguish between clean and stego images. Most of recent researches in this scope exploit feature reduction algorithms to improve the performance of correct detections. However, dimension reduction alone could not tackle the problem of steganalysis because the properties of stego images change during the steganalysis process. In this work, it is intended to propose an Image Steganalysis using visual Domain Adaptation (ISDA), which this steganalysis target images to distinguish across stego and clean images. ISDA is a dimensionality reduction approach that considers the image drifts during the steganography process in the steganalysis of target images. Moreover, ISDA employs domain invariant clustering in an embedded representation to cluster clean and stego images in the reduced subspace. The results on benchmark datasets demonstrate that ISDA thoroughly outperforms all of the state of the art methods on validation parameters, accuracy of detection and time complexit

Image Fuzzy Enhancement Based on Self-Adaptive Bee Colony Algorithm

In the image acquisition or transmission, the image may be damaged and distorted due to various reasons; therefore, in order to satisfy people’s visual effects, these images with degrading quality must be processed to meet practical needs. Integrating artificial bee colony algorithm and fuzzy set, this paper introduces fuzzy entropy into the self-adaptive fuzzy enhancement of image so as to realize the self-adaptive parameter selection. In the meanwhile, based on the exponential properties of information increase, it proposes a new definition of fuzzy entropy and uses artificial bee colony algorithm to realize the self-adaptive contrast enhancement under the maximum entropy criterion. The experimental result shows that the method proposed in this paper can increase the dynamic range compression of the image, enhance the visual effects of the image, enhance the image details, have some color fidelity capacity and effectively overcome the deficiencies of traditional image enhancement methods