Deep Learning for Cyberattack Detection: A Comparative Analysis of Deep Neural Network (DNN), Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), and Recurrent Neural Network (RNN)

Year 2025, Volume: 6 Issue: 2, 39 - 54, 29.12.2025

Gloria Odiaga , Newton Masinde , Castro Yoga

https://doi.org/10.55195/jscai.1820478

Abstract

While the growing accessibility of technology improves usability, it also creates more opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit vulnerabilities, significantly accelerating the proliferation of cybersecurity attacks. Deep learning (DL) approaches present significant advancements over conventional machine learning (ML) techniques by automating feature selection and extraction while minimizing external dependencies. This study proposes a deep learning-based model to enhance cyberattack detection and ensure that data security goals are achieved. This study employs a quantitative research design, utilizing simulation and modeling as the primary analytical tools. The dataset used is the Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity Intrusion Detection System (CIC-IDS-2017) dataset. Three distinct DL algorithms are used to design the detection models, namely, Deep Neural Network (DNN), Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), and Recurrent Neural Network (RNN). The performance comparison metrics are F1-score, accuracy, sensitivity, false positive rate (FPR), specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), false negative rate (FNR), and negative predictive value (NPV). Optimization concepts are integrated to enhance the detection efficiency in web-based systems, including loss functions, gradient-based optimization, and efficient model generalization techniques. The results of k-fold cross-validation show LSTM’s higher scores for F1-score (94.6%), recall (94.7%), accuracy (94.8%), and precision (94.6%). LSTM outperformed RNN and DNN, achieving the highest accuracy, precision, specificity, and sensitivity at 94.7%, 94.3%, 98.9%, and 94.7% respectively, validating LSTM's superior generalizability for cyberattack detection tasks.

Keywords

Deep Learning , Cyberattack , Security , Long Short-Term Memory , Deep Neural Network , Recurrent Neural Network

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