Adaptive Defense Mechanisms: A Federated Learning Approach for Proactive Intrusion Detection in Heterogeneous IoT Networks
Downloads
Background. The rise of heterogeneous IoT devices has increased security risks, but traditional intrusion detection systems struggle with the diversity and limited resources of these devices.
Purpose. This research investigates Federated Learning (FL) to develop a decentralized, adaptive IDS that enables collaborative threat detection while ensuring data privacy and low computational load.
Method. An FL model was implemented in a simulated IoT network featuring sensors and industrial controllers, then tested against DoS and data injection attacks using accuracy and resource metrics.
Results. The FL-based IDS reached a detection accuracy of 95.3% with minimal resource consumption, proving its efficiency for resource-constrained IoT environments.
Conclusion. Federated Learning provides a scalable and proactive solution for IoT security, offering a robust framework for privacy-preserving and efficient intrusion detection.
A, R., Narendra, M., Prakash, M. B., & Reddy, P. G. (2026). A Real-Time, Multi-Layer Cybersecurity Framework for IoT using Context-Adaptive Deep Learning. 2026 International Conference on Electronics and Renewable Systems (ICEARS), 464–471. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICEARS67481.2026.11416603
Agrahari, A. K., Dinker, A. G., & Singh, R. B. (2026). A review of security threats and privacy issues in federated learning. International Journal of Data Science and Analytics, 22(1), 85. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41060-026-01067-z
Al Tfaily, F., Ghalmane, Z., Brahmia, M. E. A., Hazimeh, H., Jaber, A., & Zghal, M. (2026). Community-based vulnerability prediction framework for IoT intrusion detection using only network topology. Future Generation Computer Systems, 182, 108493. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2026.108493
Alshammari, A. (2026). A unified low-carbon cybersecurity framework integrating energy-efficient intrusion detection, lightweight cryptography, and carbon-aware scheduling for edge–cloud architectures. Scientific Reports, 16(1), 10603. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-44260-7
Alzahrani, A. I. A. (2025). Exploring AI and quantum computing synergies in holographic counterpart frameworks for IoT security and privacy. The Journal of Supercomputing, 81(11), 1194. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-025-07682-0
Bokhari, M. U., Khan, M. Z., & Masoodi, F. S. (2025). A Hybrid Approach to Feature Selection for Cyber Threat Detection in IoT Networks. 2025 3rd International Conference on Device Intelligence, Computing and Communication Technologies (DICCT), 637–642. https://doi.org/10.1109/DICCT64131.2025.10986689
Dontu, S., Vallabhaneni, R., Addula, S. R., Kumar Pareek, P., & Abbas, H. M. (2024). MCWOA based Hybrid Deep Learning for Detecting the Attacks in Cybersecurity with IoT Network. 2024 International Conference on Intelligent Algorithms for Computational Intelligence Systems (IACIS), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1109/IACIS61494.2024.10721786
Guo, J., Xiong, Y., Wu, L., Dong, K., & Lee, L. (2025). A Defense Scheme of Backdoor Attacks for Federated Learning Based on Multi-Index Cascading. 2025 25th International Conference on Software Quality, Reliability, and Security Companion (QRS-C), 540–549. https://doi.org/10.1109/QRS-C65679.2025.00072
Hasnaine, Q. R., Hu, Y., Ibrahem, M. I., & Fouda, M. M. (2025). A Comprehensive Survey of Model Extraction Attacks: Current Trends, Defenses, and Future Directions. 2025 1st International Conference on Secure IoT, Assured and Trusted Computing (SATC), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1109/SATC65530.2025.11137084
He, D., Yan, J., Wang, Y., Zhao, F., Xia, Y., Li, H., & Wang, W. (2026). A robust federated aggregation algorithm for multimodal data in smart grid scenarios. Multimedia Systems, 32(1), 63. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00530-025-02070-3
Hu, C., & Tei, K. (2025). Adaptive Defense Mechanisms Against Dynamic Poisoning Attacks in Decentralized Federated Learning. 2025 IEEE International Conference on Autonomic Computing and Self-Organizing Systems Companion (ACSOS-C), 179–181. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACSOS-C66519.2025.00051
Ishfaq, H., Shah, J. H., Saleem, R., & Afzal, M. (2026). A distributed framework for zero-day malware detection using federated ensemble models. PLOS One, 21(1), e0339907. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0339907
Kamal Abasi, A., Aloqaily, M., & Guizani, M. (2025). 6G mmWave Security Advancements Through Federated Learning and Differential Privacy. IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management, 22(2), 1911–1928. https://doi.org/10.1109/TNSM.2025.3528235
Li, X., Wen, M., He, S., Lu, R., & Wang, L. (2024). A Privacy-Preserving Federated Learning Scheme Against Poisoning Attacks in Smart Grid. IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 11(9), 16805–16816. https://doi.org/10.1109/JIOT.2024.3365142
Lu, X., & Cao, Y. (2025). Adaptive Neuron Honeypot: Trapping Malicious Backdoors in Federated Learning. 2025 IEEE 24th International Conference on Trust, Security and Privacy in Computing and Communications (TrustCom), 1733–1741. https://doi.org/10.1109/Trustcom66490.2025.00201
Makhijani, J., Sharma, Y., & Pathak, Y. (2026). AI-Powered intrusion detection system for IoT networks using hybrid learning models. Dalam B. S. Virdee, T. Ali, J. Anguera, & S. L. Tripathy, Connecting Intelligence (1 ed., hlm. 269–274). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003773504-45
Mebawondu, O. J., Ajisafe-Badeji, B., Mebawondu, J. O., Akinduyite, O. C., Abiola, O. B., & Oluwatoki, T. G. (2024). A Multi-Class Intrusion Detection Model using an Ensemble of Deep Learning Techniques. 2024 IEEE 5th International Conference on Electro-Computing Technologies for Humanity (NIGERCON), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1109/NIGERCON62786.2024.10927048
Molose, R., & Isong, B. (2026). A Survey of Multi-Layer IoT Security Using SDN, Blockchain, and Machine Learning. Electronics, 15(3), 494. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics15030494
Muppavaram, K., Aruna Sri, T., Krishna, T. M., Tripathi, J., Das, M. N., Mani, S., Prasad, G. L. V., & Manyam, T. (2025). An Adaptive AI-Driven Cyber Threat Detection Framework for Securing Heterogeneous IoT Networks. Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research, 15(5), 26750–26756. https://doi.org/10.48084/etasr.12386
Nawshin, F., Unal, D., Hammoudeh, M., & Suganthan, P. N. (2025). A Novel Genetic Algorithm Optimized Adversarial Attack in Federated Learning for Android-Based Mobile Systems. IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, 71(3), 8512–8520. https://doi.org/10.1109/TCE.2025.3577905
Ouhiba, I. B., Kodia, Z., & Azzouna, N. B. (2025). Adaptive RDP-FL: Enhancing Privacy-Preserving Federated Learning with Robust Differential Privacy Mechanisms. 2025 11th International Conference on Control, Decision and Information Technologies (CoDIT), 2428–2433. https://doi.org/10.1109/CoDIT66093.2025.11321643
Reddy, C. L., & Malathi, K. (2025). A Robust Defense Mechanism Design for Side-Channel Attacks Cover Cloud E-Health Environments. 2025 2nd International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Knowledge Discovery in Concurrent Engineering (ICECONF), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICECONF65644.2025.11379579
Shi, L., Wu, H., Ding, X., Xu, H., & Pan, S. (2026). A Client-Level Conditional Generative Adversarial Network-Based Data Reconstruction Attack and Its Defense in Clustered Federated Learning Scenario. IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 13(3), 4633–4643. https://doi.org/10.1109/JIOT.2025.3637061
Singh, S. K., Bhambu, P., Sandhu, A., Kumar, A., Sharma, D., & Pandey, A. (2024). Achieving Cloud Security Solutions based on Machine Learning and Past Information. 2024 International Conference on Augmented Reality, Intelligent Systems, and Industrial Automation (ARIIA), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1109/ARIIA63345.2024.11051704
Sivaraj, G., & Feroz Khan, A. B. (2025). An Intelligent Machine Learning Framework for Early Detection of DDoS Attacks in IoT Networks. 2025 International Conference on NexGen Networks and Cybernetics (IC2NC), 138–144. https://doi.org/10.1109/IC2NC67409.2025.11376419
Tanvir, M. I. M., Nadia, N. Y., Rabby, H. R., Arif, M. H., Sultana, S. R., & Nur, K. (2025). Self-Supervised and Domain-Adaptive Deep Learning for Early Detection of Cyber-Attacks in Healthcare Iot Systems. 2025 International Conference on Innovation and Intelligence for Informatics, Computing, and Technologies (3ICT), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1109/3ict68299.2025.11442237
Thomas, D. R., & Stephen, C. A. (2025). A Broad Review of Machine Learning-Driven Approaches for Detecting and Mitigating Cyber Security Threats. 2025 3rd International Conference on Intelligent Cyber Physical Systems and Internet of Things (ICoICI), 859–864. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICoICI65217.2025.11253183
Vijayan, N., Gururajan, R., & Chan, K. C. (2025). A Comparative Analysis of Defense Mechanisms Against Model Inversion Attacks on Tabular Data. Journal of Cybersecurity and Privacy, 5(4), 80. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcp5040080
Wang, H., Xu, Z., Zhang, Y., & Wang, Y. (2025). Adaptive Layered-Trust Robust Defense Mechanism for Personalized Federated Learning. ICASSP 2025 - 2025 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing (ICASSP), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICASSP49660.2025.10887951
Yan, H., Zheng, C., Chen, Q., Li, X., Wang, B., Li, H., & Lin, X. (2025). A Proactive Defense Against Model Poisoning Attacks in Federated Learning. IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, 22(4), 3529–3543. https://doi.org/10.1109/TDSC.2025.3533029
Yuan, J., Zhang, Q., Chen, N., Chen, S., & Xu, B. (2025). A Multi-Granularity Clustering Approach for Federated Backdoor Defense with the Adam Optimizer. Proceedings of the Thirty-Fourth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 6931–6939. https://doi.org/10.24963/ijcai.2025/771
Zakaria, F., & Khalid, S. K. (2025). A Review of Federated Learning Attacks: Threat Models and Defence Strategies. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, 16(7). https://doi.org/10.14569/IJACSA.2025.0160754
Zhao, L., Chen, L., Shen, P., Liu, Z., Li, C., & Zhou, F. (2025). Adaptive Multi-Layer Defense Mechanism for Trusted Federated Learning in Network Security Assessment. Computers, Materials & Continua, 85(3), 5057–5071. https://doi.org/10.32604/cmc.2025.067521
Copyright (c) 2026 Zainal Syahlan

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.


















