A Novel MHC-Inspired Approach for Malicious Code Detection

Abstract

The ever-increasing spread of malicious code causes traditional signature-based anti-malicious code techniques to encounter unprecedented difficulties. By drawing inspiration from the features of MHC (Major Histocompatibility Complex) in the biological immune system, we propose an MHC-inspired approach for malicious code detection to effectively detect previously unknown malicious codes. The antibody (detector) consists of the constant region and the variable region. The constant region, filled with MHC strings, is to preserve outstanding antibody genes. The variable region, composed of other antibodies genes fragments, is to improve the antibody diversity by mutation. The dynamic evolution of self and nonself, the presentation of antigen, and the generation of antibody are discussed. The experiments are conducted and the results indicate that this approach has relatively higher detection rate of unknown malicious codes than AISCSA, a typical immunity-based approach for malicious codes detection.