Security concerns for Internet of Things (IoT) applications have been alarming because of their widespread use in different enterprise systems. The potential threats to these applications are constantly emerging and changing, and, therefore, sophisticated and dependable defense solutions are necessary against such threats. With the rapid development of IoT networks and evolving threat types, the traditional machine learning based IDS must update to cope with the security requirements of the current sustainable IoT environment. In recent years, deep learning and deep transfer learning have progressed and experienced great success in different fields and have emerged as a potential solution for dependable network intrusion detection. However, new and emerging challenges have arisen related to the accuracy, efficiency, scalability, and dependability of the traditional IDS in a heterogeneous IoT setup. This manuscript proposes a deep transfer learning based dependable IDS model that outperforms several existing approaches. The unique contributions include effective attribute selection, which is best suited to identify normal and attack scenarios for a small amount of labeled data, designing a dependable deep transfer learning based ResNet model and evaluating considering real-world data. To this end, a comprehensive experimental performance evaluation has been conducted. Extensive analysis and performance evaluation show that the proposed model is robust, more efficient, and has demonstrated better performance, ensuring dependability.

The increasing sophistication of malware threats has led to growing concerns in the anti-malware community, as malware poses a significant danger to online users despite the availability of numerous defense solutions. The aim of this study is to comprehensively review malware evolution and current attack trends in order to identify effective defense mechanisms. This study reviewed the most recent journal articles, conference proceedings, reports, and online resources published over the last five years. We extensively reviewed the malware landscape from 1970 to the present, and analyzed its types, operational mechanisms, attack vectors, and vulnerabilities. Furthermore, we explored different defensive strategies developed in response to these evolving threats. Our findings highlight the increasing sophistication of malware attack trends, including a surge in cryptojacking, attacks on mobile devices, Internet of Things devices, ransomware, advanced persistent threats, supply chain attacks, fileless malware, cloud-based attacks, exploitation of remote employees, and attack trends on edge networks. Defense strategies have also evolved in parallel, emphasizing multi-layered security measures to counter these dynamic threats. This study highlights the critical need for robust, multi-layered security measures to combat dynamic malware. Despite these advancements, some open challenges and significant research gaps remain, which require further innovation. This review serves as a valuable guide for cybersecurity professionals by identifying the key trends, challenges, limitations, and future research on cybersecurity.

Anonymity networks are becoming increasingly popular in today’s online world as more users attempt to safeguard their online privacy. Tor is currently the most popular anonymity network in use and provides anonymity to both users and services (hidden services). However, the anonymity provided by Tor is also being misused in various ways. Hosting illegal sites for selling drugs, hosting command and control servers for botnets, and distributing censored content are but a few such examples. As a result, various parties, including governments and law enforcement agencies, are interested in attacks that assist in de-anonymising the Tor network, disrupting its operations, and bypassing its censorship circumvention mechanisms. In this survey paper, we review known Tor attacks and identify current techniques for the de-anonymisation of Tor users and hidden services. We discuss these techniques and analyse the practicality of their execution method. We conclude by discussing improvements to the Tor framework that help prevent the surveyed de-anonymisation attacks.

Ransomware attacks are on the rise in terms of both frequency and impact. The shift to remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic has led more people to work online, prompting companies to adapt quickly. Unfortunately, this increased online activity has provided cybercriminals numerous opportunities to carry out devastating attacks. One recent method employed by malicious actors involves infecting corporate networks with ransomware to extract millions of dollars in profits. Ransomware falls into the category of malware. It works by encrypting sensitive data and demanding payments from victims to receive the encryption keys necessary for decrypting their data. The prevalence of this type of attack has prompted governments and organisations worldwide to intensify their efforts to combat ransomware. In response, the research community has also focused on ransomware detection, leveraging technologies such as machine learning. Despite this increased attention, practical solutions for real-world applications remain scarce in the existing literature. Numerous surveys have explored literature within the domain. Still, there is a notable lack of emphasis on the design of ransomware detection systems and the practical aspects of detection, including real-time and early detection. Against this backdrop, our review delves into the existing literature on ransomware detection, specifically examining the machine-learning techniques, detection approaches, and designs employed. Finally, we highlight the limitations of prior studies and propose future research directions in this crucial area.