Authors

  • Abdullah Al Mamun
    Department of Computer & Info Science, Gannon University, Erie, Pennsylvania, USA
  • Ayan Nath
    Master’s in computer and information science, International American University
  • Sonjoy Kumar Dey
    McComish Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, South Dakota State University, USA
  • Paresh Chandra Nath
    Master of Science in Information Technology, Washington University of Science and Technology, USA
  • Md Mohibur Rahman
    Fred DeMatteis School of Engineering and Applied Science, Hofstra University, USA
  • Jannatul Ferdous Shorna
    College of Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida
  • Nafis Anjum
    College of Technology and Engineering, Westcliff University, Irvine, CA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37547/tajet/Volume07Issue03-23

Keywords:

Malware Detection Cloud Infrastructures Convolutional Neural Networks Real-time Processing Feature Engineering

Abstract

This study presents a novel malware detection framework for cloud infrastructures that harnesses the power of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to achieve real-time threat identification with superior accuracy and speed. Our approach begins with the collection and meticulous preprocessing of heterogeneous cloud log data, followed by advanced feature engineering to extract meaningful patterns indicative of malicious activity. The CNN model automatically learns hierarchical representations from this high-dimensional data, resulting in a detection system that achieves an accuracy of 98.2%, a precision of 97.5%, a recall of 98.0%, and an F1-score of 97.8%. In addition, the model operates with a low latency of 12 ms, a critical factor for timely threat mitigation in dynamic cloud environments. Comparative analysis against Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Random Forest classifiers reveals that the CNN not only outperforms these models in key performance metrics but also maintains a significant advantage in processing speed. These findings highlight the potential of CNN-based approaches to enhance cybersecurity defenses, offering a scalable and efficient solution for detecting evolving malware threats in cloud infrastructures.


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252

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TYPE

Original Research

PAGE NO.

252-261

DOI

10.37547/tajet/Volume07Issue03-23



OPEN ACCESS

SUBMITED

30 January 2025

ACCEPTED

24 February 2025

PUBLISHED

28 March 2025

VOLUME

Vol.07 Issue03 2025

CITATION

Abdullah Al Mamun, Ayan Nath, Sonjoy Kumar Dey, Paresh Chandra Nath,
Md Mohibur Rahman, Jannatul Ferdous Shorna, & Nafis Anjum. (2025).
Real-Time Malware Detection in Cloud Infrastructures Using Convolutional
Neural Networks: A Deep Learning Framework for Enhanced
Cybersecurity. The American Journal of Engineering and Technology,
7(03), 252

261. https://doi.org/10.37547/tajet/Volume07Issue03-23

COPYRIGHT

© 2025 Original content from this work may be used under the terms
of the creative commons attributes 4.0 License.

Real-Time Malware
Detection in Cloud
Infrastructures Using
Convolutional Neural
Networks: A Deep Learning
Framework for Enhanced
Cybersecurity

Abdullah Al Mamun

Department of Computer & Info Science, Gannon University, Erie,
Pennsylvania, USA

Ayan Nath

Master’s in computer and information science, International American

University

Sonjoy Kumar Dey

McComish Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science,
South Dakota State University, USA

Paresh Chandra Nath

Master of Science in Information Technology, Washington University of
Science and Technology, USA

Md Mohibur Rahman

Fred DeMatteis School of Engineering and Applied Science, Hofstra
University, USA

Jannatul Ferdous Shorna

College of Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University,
Boca Raton, Florida

Nafis Anjum

College of Technology and Engineering, Westcliff University, Irvine, CA

Abstract:

This study presents a novel malware detection

framework for cloud infrastructures that harnesses the
power of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to
achieve real-time threat identification with superior


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accuracy and speed. Our approach begins with the
collection

and

meticulous

preprocessing

of

heterogeneous cloud log data, followed by advanced
feature engineering to extract meaningful patterns
indicative of malicious activity. The CNN model
automatically learns hierarchical representations from
this high-dimensional data, resulting in a detection
system that achieves an accuracy of 98.2%, a precision
of 97.5%, a recall of 98.0%, and an F1-score of 97.8%.
In addition, the model operates with a low latency of
12 ms, a critical factor for timely threat mitigation in
dynamic cloud environments. Comparative analysis
against Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Support
Vector Machine (SVM), and Random Forest classifiers
reveals that the CNN not only outperforms these
models in key performance metrics but also maintains
a significant advantage in processing speed. These
findings highlight the potential of CNN-based
approaches to enhance cybersecurity defenses,
offering a scalable and efficient solution for detecting
evolving malware threats in cloud infrastructures.

Keywords:

Malware Detection, Cloud Infrastructures,

Convolutional Neural Networks, Real-time Processing,
Feature Engineering, Cybersecurity, Deep Learning,
Cloud Security.

Introduction:

Cloud computing has revolutionized the way
organizations deploy, manage, and scale their
applications by offering on-demand access to
computing resources and services (Zhao & Chen,
2019). Despite these benefits, cloud infrastructures
remain susceptible to a wide range of cyber threats,
with malware attacks posing one of the most
persistent and evolving risks (Dahl, Stokes, Deng, & Yu,
2013). Malware can exploit vulnerabilities in virtual
machines, container environments, or the underlying
network fabric, potentially compromising the
confidentiality, integrity, and availability of critical data
and services (Saxe & Berlin, 2015). The dynamic nature
of cloud environments, which often host diverse
applications and experience fluctuating workloads,
further complicates the detection process, as
conventional rule-based or signature-based methods
struggle to keep pace with emerging and polymorphic
threats (Egele, Scholte, Kirda, & Kruegel, 2008).

Machine learning approaches have shown significant
promise in enhancing malware detection by analyzing
patterns of malicious behavior rather than relying
solely on known signatures (Moustafa & Slay, 2015).

However, many traditional machine learning models are
limited by their feature extraction methods, which can
fail to capture the complex, high-dimensional
relationships inherent in cloud logs and system events
(Hochreiter & Schmidhuber, 1997). Convolutional Neural
Networks (CNNs) offer a powerful alternative by
automatically learning hierarchical representations of
data, allowing them to detect subtle indicators of
compromise that may elude simpler models (Saxe &
Berlin, 2015). Consequently, there is growing interest in
exploring CNN-based methods for malware detection in
cloud infrastructures, particularly in real-time scenarios
where latency and accuracy are paramount. This article
investigates the development and evaluation of a CNN-
based framework for detecting malware in cloud
environments, emphasizing the importance of robust
data collection, feature engineering, model design, and
performance assessment.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Research on malware detection has evolved significantly
over the past decade, transitioning from signature-based
techniques to advanced machine learning and deep
learning approaches (Dahl et al., 2013). Signature-based
methods, while effective for known threats, often fail to
recognize zero-day attacks or rapidly morphing malware
variants (Egele et al., 2008). In response, researchers
have increasingly focused on behavior-based detection,
leveraging system logs, network traffic, and file
operations to identify anomalies that could signal
malicious activity (Zhao & Chen, 2019). This shift toward
behavior-based detection has proven especially valuable
in cloud environments, where multitenancy and resource
sharing can create a large and diverse attack surface.

Early applications of deep learning in malware detection
used feedforward neural networks and recurrent
architectures like Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM)
networks to analyze sequential data (Hochreiter &
Schmidhuber, 1997; Saxe & Berlin, 2015). LSTMs have
been particularly useful for capturing long-term
dependencies in event sequences, such as file operations
or process interactions, which often reveal subtle
malicious patterns. However, the complexity of high-
dimensional data in cloud infrastructures

comprising

logs from virtual machines, container orchestration
systems, and network flows

necessitates models

capable of extracting localized, as well as global, features
(Dahl et al., 2013). Convolutional Neural Networks
address this need by applying convolutional filters that
capture both fine-grained and broader patterns in
multidimensional data (Saxe & Berlin, 2015).


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Recent studies have demonstrated the efficacy of
CNNs in detecting malware by transforming log data
into structured or image-like formats, allowing the
convolutional layers to learn discriminative features
automatically (Zhao & Chen, 2019). These approaches
often outperform traditional machine learning models,
particularly

when

dealing

with

large-scale,

heterogeneous datasets. Nevertheless, most prior
work has focused on offline analysis, leaving a gap in
evaluating CNN-based detection in real-time or near-
real-time settings where latency is a critical factor
(Moustafa & Slay, 2015). Additionally, while some
research has explored hybrid models that combine
CNNs with other techniques (e.g., LSTMs or
autoencoders), comprehensive comparisons among
different architectures under real-world cloud
constraints remain limited (Saxe & Berlin, 2015).

Building on these insights, our research seeks to
advance the field by developing a CNN-driven malware
detection framework specifically tailored to the
dynamic

and

large-scale

nature

of

cloud

infrastructures. We place special emphasis on real-
time detection performance and robustness to diverse
threats, including zero-day and polymorphic malware.
By systematically evaluating CNN-based approaches
alongside other baseline models (e.g., LSTM, SVM,
Random Forest), we aim to provide a more complete
understanding of how deep learning can be leveraged
to secure cloud computing environments.

METHODOLOGY

Data Collection

In this section, we describe our comprehensive strategy
for collecting data from cloud infrastructures to support
malware detection using convolutional neural networks.
We collaborated with several cloud service providers to
gather logs and monitoring data from diverse sources
such as virtual machines, container orchestrations, API
requests, and network flows. Our goal was to ensure that
the dataset reflected both benign and malicious
activities. We identified critical logging points that
capture system events, network communications, user
actions, and file operations. This allowed us to capture
not only well-known malware signatures but also subtle
behavioral anomalies that might indicate emerging
threats. To facilitate a structured approach, we defined a
data attribute table that served as a blueprint for the
information we collected.

The data attribute table below outlines the key features
that we captured during the data collection process. Each
attribute is carefully defined with its data type, a
description of its significance, the expected format or
range of values, and any special processing notes that are
necessary for downstream analysis. For instance,
attributes such as "Timestamp" were recorded with high
precision to allow for detailed temporal analysis, while
"Source IP" and "Destination IP" were captured to enable
network flow mapping and geolocation. Other attributes
like "Protocol," "Port Number," "File Hash," "Process ID,"
and "User Identifier" provide essential context for
identifying patterns that may be indicative of malware
behavior. This table laid the groundwork for the
subsequent stages of our methodology, ensuring that our
data was both comprehensive and structured.

Attribute
Name

Data
Type

Description

Range/Format

Special Notes

Timestamp

Datetime The exact time at which the

event was recorded

YYYY-MM-DD
HH:MM:SS

Essential

for

temporal

correlation of events

Source IP

String

IP address of the initiating host IPv4 or IPv6

Used for geolocation and
network flow analysis

Destination
IP

String

IP address of the receiving host IPv4 or IPv6

Combined with Source IP for
session mapping

Protocol

String

Communication protocol used
(e.g., TCP, UDP)

Predefined protocol
list

Helps

in

categorizing

network traffic


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Port Number Integer

Network port associated with
the connection

0–65535

Crucial

for

identifying

service

endpoints

and

vulnerabilities

File Hash

String

Crypt

ographic hash of files accessed
or modified

MD5,

SHA-256,

etc.

Key in identifying known
malicious binaries

Process ID

Integer

Identifier for the process
generating the log

OS-specific ranges

Useful for linking activities
across system components

User
Identifier

String

Unique identifier for the user
account associated with the
event

Alphanumeric
strings

Important for associating
behavior with user actions

Data Preprocessing

After collecting the raw data, we initiated a rigorous
preprocessing stage to ensure its quality and
consistency before feeding it into our convolutional
neural network. Our preprocessing strategy addressed
several

challenges

such

as

missing

values,

inconsistencies in data formatting, and the presence of
noise. We standardized all timestamps to a uniform
time zone, ensuring that temporal correlations among
events could be accurately identified. In instances
where data fields such as port numbers or file hashes
were missing or corrupted, we applied domain-specific
heuristics to either infer or impute these values based
on contextual information. In addition, we eliminated
duplicate records by cross-referencing events that
occurred simultaneously across different logging
sources.

We implemented normalization and encoding
strategies to prepare the data for analysis. Categorical
attributes like protocol types were transformed into
numerical representations using one-hot encoding,
which enabled the convolutional neural network to
process these features effectively. We also examined
the dataset for outliers by applying statistical measures
such as interquartile ranges and Z-scores, ensuring that
extreme values were scrutinized to differentiate
between potential anomalies and errors in data
collection. This preprocessing phase was critical to
reduce the noise level in the data, enhance the signal-
to-noise ratio, and maintain the integrity of the
collected information as we moved into feature
selection.

Feature Selection

With the data preprocessed and cleansed, we turned
our focus to identifying the most relevant features that

could help distinguish between benign and malicious
activities. Our feature selection process combined
statistical analysis with domain expertise to refine the
set of variables that would feed into our model. We
began by calculating correlation coefficients between
features and their impact on the detection of malware,
which helped us identify and eliminate redundant
features. Features that exhibited high collinearity, such
as certain combinations of network port numbers and
protocols, were either merged or removed to reduce
noise and simplify the model input.

Our iterative approach involved testing the selected
features in preliminary training rounds and evaluating
their performance in terms of discrimination power.
Feedback from these early experiments guided
adjustments in the feature set, ensuring that our final

selection maximized the model’s ability to capture

meaningful patterns while minimizing overfitting. This
careful balance between reducing dimensionality and
retaining critical information was fundamental to
achieving robust detection performance.

Feature Engineering

Beyond the initial selection, we engaged in extensive
feature engineering to enrich the dataset with
additional variables that could capture the complex
temporal and sequential nature of cloud-based
malware activities. We recognized that individual
events might not be sufficient to reveal sophisticated
attack patterns; instead, the relationships between
successive events often held the key to early detection.
Consequently, we engineered features that aggregated
event data over various time windows, calculating
metrics such as rolling averages, variances, and
frequency counts of specific actions like failed logins or
unusual file access patterns.


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We also derived composite features by combining
related attributes to highlight correlations between
network activity and system processes. For example, by
integrating network traffic volumes with corresponding
protocol data, we were able to generate indicators that
signaled abnormal surges in activity potentially linked
to malware. These engineered features added context
and depth to the raw data, significantly enhancing the
ability of our convolutional neural network to detect
nuanced behaviors indicative of malicious intent. Each
new feature was validated through exploratory analysis
and incorporated only after confirming that it
contributed to improved model performance during
our trial runs.

Model Development

The development of our convolutional neural network
model was a critical phase in our methodology. We
adapted state-of-the-art CNN architectures

originally

designed for image recognition

to handle the

sequential and multivariate nature of our structured log
data. Our model was designed as a multi-layer network
that began with several convolutional layers
responsible for extracting local patterns from the time-
series data. These layers used varied filter sizes to
capture both short-term fluctuations and long-term
trends in system activities. Pooling layers followed to
reduce the dimensionality and mitigate the risk of
overfitting, ensuring that the model remained robust
against the high dimensionality of the feature space.

To improve generalization and accelerate convergence,
we incorporated advanced techniques such as batch
normalization and dropout regularization throughout
the network. We experimented with different
configurations of activation functions, filter depths, and
learning rate strategies

using the Adam optimizer

to

fine-

tune the network’s performance. Recognizing that

our dataset exhibited an imbalance between benign
and malicious events, we selected a weighted cross-
entropy loss function that penalized misclassifications
on the minority class more heavily. This approach
helped to counteract the inherent bias towards the
majority class and ensured that the model was sensitive
enough to detect rare malware events. Throughout the
development phase, we maintained a detailed log of
parameter settings and experimental outcomes,
allowing us to iteratively refine the architecture based
on empirical results.

Model Evaluation

The final phase of our methodology involved a
comprehensive evaluation of the developed model to
ensure its efficacy in real-world scenarios. We adopted

a multi-faceted evaluation strategy that combined
quantitative metrics with qualitative analyses to
provide a holistic view of the model's performance.
Traditional metrics such as accuracy, precision, recall,
and F1-score were computed to measure the overall
classification

performance.

Given

the

critical

importance of not missing malicious events, we placed
a particular emphasis on recall and monitored the
trade-off between true positives and false negatives.

In addition, we plotted the receiver operating
characteristic (ROC) curve and calculated the area
under the curve (AUC) to assess the mode

l’s ability to

differentiate between benign and malicious events
across various thresholds. We also conducted an in-
depth error analysis by examining cases where the
model misclassified events. This analysis provided
insights into the types of activities or specific patterns
that led to errors, informing further refinements in
feature engineering and model tuning. Visualization
techniques were employed to inspect the internal
feature maps of the CNN, offering a glimpse into which
parts of the input data were most influential in the
decision-making process.

Furthermore, we simulated real-world deployment
scenarios by subjecting the model to stress testing
under varying load conditions. This involved feeding
streams of data that mimicked sudden surges in
activity

such as those encountered during distributed

denial-of-service

attacks

or

rapid

malware

propagation

—to evaluate the model’s scalability and

real-time processing capabilities. Cross-validation was
also performed by partitioning the dataset into multiple
subsets, ensuring that the model's performance was
consistent and reproducible across different segments
of the data.

By

rigorously

documenting

our

experimental

configurations, parameter settings, and performance
metrics, we ensured that our approach was both
transparent and reproducible. The iterative feedback
from these evaluations not only validated our
methodology but also provided valuable insights for
future improvements in malware detection strategies
for cloud infrastructures.

In conclusion, our methodology represents a holistic
and systematic approach to detecting malware in cloud
infrastructures using convolutional neural networks. By
meticulously collecting, preprocessing, and engineering
features from heterogeneous log data and by
developing a robust CNN model, we have established a
comprehensive

framework

that

effectively

distinguishes between benign and malicious activities.
The rigorous evaluation process further underscores


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the practical applicability of our approach, offering a
promising avenue for enhancing the security and
resilience of cloud-based systems against evolving
threats.

RESULTS

In this section, we present our extensive experimental
results and a detailed analysis of our malware detection
system in cloud infrastructures. Our experiments
compared the performance of our convolutional neural
network (CNN) with three other models: Long Short-
Term Memory (LSTM), Support Vector Machine (SVM),
and Random Forest. We evaluated each model using
multiple metrics: accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score,
and latency in a real-time processing scenario. Our
objective was to identify which model not only
achieved superior detection performance but also
operated with minimal latency

a critical factor in real-

time environments.

To ensure the robustness of our findings, we
partitioned our dataset into training, validation, and

testing sets using cross-validation. This approach
helped us verify that the results were consistent across
different subsets of data and not overly tuned to a
specific

sample.

Each

model

underwent

hyperparameter tuning and optimization to ensure that
we achieved the best possible performance on our
dataset. We recorded average metrics across multiple
experimental runs to account for any variability and to
ensure that our results were statistically significant.

The table below summarizes our results. The CNN
achieved an outstanding performance, reaching an
accuracy of 98.2% and an F1-score of 97.8%. This result
was significantly higher than the performance achieved
by the LSTM, SVM, and Random Forest models.
Notably, the CNN also demonstrated the lowest latency
at 12 ms, which is essential for real-time malware
detection. In comparison, the LSTM model, although
competitive in detection performance with a 95.4%
accuracy and 94.5% F1-score, incurred a higher latency
of 25 ms. Both the SVM and Random Forest models
exhibited lower performance in terms of both
predictive accuracy and real-time responsiveness.

Table 1: Model Performance

Model

Accuracy Precision Recall F1-Score Latency (ms)

Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) 98.2%

97.5%

98.0% 97.8%

12

Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM)

95.4%

94.0%

95.0% 94.5%

25

Support Vector Machine (SVM)

92.8%

91.5%

92.0% 91.7%

35

Random Forest

93.6%

92.0%

93.0% 92.5%

30

We further analyzed the performance by breaking
down the results across different operational scenarios,
such as varying levels of network load and different
types of malware events. The CNN maintained high
performance across these diverse conditions, which
suggests that its architecture is robust to the
heterogeneity found in cloud environments. In
addition, our error analysis indicated that most
misclassifications in the non-CNN models were due to
subtle anomalies that these models failed to capture. In
contrast, the CNN effectively identified these
anomalies, leading to fewer false negatives

a critical

factor in malware detection where missing a threat can
have serious consequences.

To provide a visual comparison of the models, we
developed a dual-axis bar chart that contrasts the F1-
scores with the latency figures. In this chart, the x-axis
represents the different models, while the left y-axis
shows the F1-score (in percentage) and the right y-axis
indicates the latency in milliseconds. This visualization
clearly highlights the superior performance of the CNN
model, which achieves both a high F1-score and a low
latency, thus confirming its suitability for real-time
deployment.


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Chart 2: Evaluation of different Model Performance

The chart provides a side-by-side comparison of four
different models

Convolutional Neural Network

(CNN), Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Support
Vector Machine (SVM), and Random Forest

across

five key metrics: accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score,
and latency (in milliseconds). Each group of bars
corresponds to one model, with each bar representing
a specific metric. Higher bars on the percentage metrics
(accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score) indicate stronger
classification performance, whereas lower bars on
latency (ms) indicate faster processing speed, which is
crucial for real-time malware detection in cloud
environments.

The Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) achieves the
highest values for accuracy (about 98.20%), precision
(about 97.50%), recall (about 98.00%), and F1-score
(about 97.80%). These results suggest that it excels at
correctly identifying both benign and malicious events
while minimizing false positives and false negatives.
Additionally, the CNN has the lowest latency at around
12 ms, indicating that it can process and classify
incoming data streams more quickly than the other
models, making it exceptionally well-suited for
scenarios where immediate threat detection is vital.

The Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model also
performs well in terms of classification metrics

roughly 95.40% accuracy, 94.00% precision, 95.00%
recall, and 94.50% F1-score

but it does not reach the

same level as the CNN. Its latency is around 25 ms,
which, while higher than that of the CNN, remains

moderate compared to the other baseline methods.
This indicates that the LSTM can still be considered a
viable option for malware detection, particularly if
slight increases in processing time are acceptable.

The Support Vector Machine (SVM) achieves accuracy,
precision, recall, and F1-score values in the low- to mid-
90% range (around 92.80%, 91.50%, 92.00%, and
91.70% respectively). While these results are still
respectable, they are noticeably lower than those of
the CNN and LSTM. The latency of about 35 ms is the
highest among the four models, which may limit its
suitability for real-time detection scenarios where rapid
response is essential.

The Random Forest model falls between the SVM and
LSTM in terms of accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-
score (approximately 93.60%, 92.00%, 93.00%, and
92.50%). Its latency of around 30 ms is mid-range,
better than the SVM but slower than both the CNN and
LSTM. Although it demonstrates a balanced trade-off
between performance and speed, it does not surpass
the CNN in either metric.

Overall, the chart highlights that the CNN outperforms
the other models in classification metrics (accuracy,
precision, recall, F1-score) while also maintaining the

98.2

0%

95.4

0%

92.8

0%

93.6

0%

97.50

%

94.0

0%

91.5

0%

92.0

0%

98.0

0%

95.0

0%

92.0

0%

93.0

0%

97.8

0%

94.5

0%

91.7

0%

92.5

0%

12

25

35

30

C O N V O L U T I O N A L

N E U R A L N E T W O R K

( C N N )

L O N G S H O R T - T E R M

M E M O R Y ( L S T M )

S U P P O R T V E C T O R

M A C H I N E ( S V M )

R A N D O M F O R E S T

MODEL PERFORMANCE

Accuracy

Precision

Recall

F1-Score

Latency (ms)


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lowest latency. This combination of high detection
performance and rapid processing speed makes the
CNN particularly well-suited for real-time malware

detection in cloud environments, where both accuracy
and timeliness are crucial for maintaining system
security.

Chart 1: Model comparison F1 score vs Latency

The chart reinforces that the CNN not only delivers
superior detection performance (as reflected by the
highest F1-score) but also minimizes latency, which is
crucial in cloud-based environments where rapid
response times are essential to thwart active malware
attacks. Moreover, we conducted additional analyses
to understand the implications of these results in a
practical deployment context. For instance, we
measured the throughput of each model under a
simulated high-traffic scenario and observed that the
CNN maintained stable performance even when
processing large volumes of data concurrently. This
robustness under stress testing is particularly
important given the dynamic nature of cloud
infrastructures, where traffic loads can fluctuate
dramatically due to varying workloads or coordinated
cyberattacks.

We also evaluated the resource consumption of each
model during inference. The CNN, despite its complex
architecture, was optimized to run efficiently on both
CPU and GPU platforms, which makes it highly scalable
in diverse operational settings. In contrast, while the
LSTM and ensemble-based models (SVM and Random
Forest) also performed adequately, they required more
computational overhead, which could hinder their
ability to scale in real-time, high-throughput
environments.

In conclusion, the experimental results demonstrate
that our CNN-based malware detection system not only
achieves the highest accuracy, and F1-score compared
to other models but also operates with significantly
lower latency. The superior performance of the CNN in
both

controlled

and

simulated

real-world

environments highlights its practical applicability and
effectiveness. This comprehensive evaluation confirms
that our approach is well-suited for real-time malware
detection in cloud infrastructures, where rapid and
accurate threat identification is paramount for
maintaining system integrity and security.

CONCLUSION

In this study, we developed and evaluated a CNN-based
framework

for

detecting

malware

in

cloud

infrastructures, and our findings demonstrate that the
proposed approach not only achieves high detection
accuracy but also operates with low latency, making it
highly suitable for real-time applications. Our
comprehensive methodology involved robust data
collection from heterogeneous cloud environments,
rigorous preprocessing and feature engineering, and
the development of a deep convolutional neural
network

that

effectively

learns

hierarchical

representations from complex, high-dimensional log


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The American Journal of Engineering and Technology

data. The experimental results clearly indicate that our
CNN outperforms traditional models such as LSTM,
SVM, and Random Forest, as evidenced by its superior
accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score, alongside its
significantly lower latency. These findings underscore
the potential of deep learning techniques, particularly
CNNs, to enhance malware detection capabilities in
dynamic and large-scale cloud infrastructures.

Our discussion highlights several key implications of
this work. First, the success of the CNN in capturing
both local and global patterns from cloud logs points to
the importance of automated feature extraction in
modern cybersecurity applications. The ability of the
model to quickly process large volumes of data without
sacrificing accuracy is a critical advantage in cloud
environments where real-time threat detection is
essential. Moreover, our comparative analysis with
other models revealed that while traditional methods
can still offer acceptable performance, they often fall
short in terms of processing speed and adaptability to
evolving threat landscapes. Despite these promising
results, our research also identifies some limitations.
The reliance on labeled data for training and the
challenges associated with the continuous evolution of
malware techniques suggest that further work is
needed to incorporate unsupervised or semi-
supervised learning methods. Additionally, while our
model was tested in controlled experimental settings,
future research should focus on deploying and
validating the framework in operational cloud
environments to assess its resilience under varying real-
world conditions.

Overall, the insights gained from this research
contribute to the growing div of knowledge on
applying deep learning for cybersecurity. By
demonstrating that CNN-based approaches can
significantly enhance the detection of sophisticated
malware attacks in cloud infrastructures, we pave the
way for more resilient and adaptive security systems.
Future work should explore the integration of
complementary techniques, such as hybrid models
combining CNNs with recurrent architectures or
reinforcement learning strategies, to further improve
detection capabilities and adapt to the dynamic nature
of cloud security threats.

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Das, P., Pervin, T., Bhattacharjee, B., Karim, M. R.,
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background image

The American Journal of Engineering and Technology

261

https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajet

The American Journal of Engineering and Technology

(2024). OPTIMIZING REAL-TIME DYNAMIC PRICING
STRATEGIES IN RETAIL AND E-COMMERCE USING
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Hossain, M. N., Hossain, S., Nath, A., Nath, P. C., Ayub,
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Ahmed, M. P., Das, A. C., Akter, P., Mou, S. N., Tisha, S.
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Md Risalat Hossain Ontor, Asif Iqbal, Emon Ahmed,
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https://doi.org/10.55640/ijcsis/Volume09Issue11-05

Rahman, A., Iqbal, A., Ahmed, E., & Ontor, M. R. H.
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Iqbal, A., Ahmed, E., Rahman, A., & Ontor, M. R. H.
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Nguyen, Q. G., Nguyen, L. H., Hosen, M. M., Rasel, M.,
Shorna, J. F., Mia, M. S., & Khan, S. I. (2025). Enhancing
Credit Risk Management with Machine Learning: A
Comparative Study of Predictive Models for Credit
Default Prediction. The American Journal of Applied
sciences, 7(01), 21-30.

Bhattacharjee, B., Mou, S. N., Hossain, M. S., Rahman,
M. K., Hassan, M. M., Rahman, N., ... & Haque, M. S. U.
(2024). MACHINE LEARNING FOR COST ESTIMATION
AND FORECASTING IN BANKING: A COMPARATIVE
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Frontline

Marketing,Management and Economics Journal, 4(12),
66-83.

Hossain, S., Siddique, M. T., Hosen, M. M., Jamee, S. S.,
Akter, S., Akter, P., ... & Khan, M. S. (2025). Comparative
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References

Phan, H. T. N. (2024). EARLY DETECTION OF ORAL DISEASES USING MACHINE LEARNING: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PREDICTIVE MODELS AND DIAGNOSTIC ACCURACY. International Journal of Medical Science and Public Health Research, 5(12), 107-118.

Dahl, G. E., Stokes, J. W., Deng, L., & Yu, D. (2013). Large-scale malware classification using random projections and neural networks. IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, 3422–3426.

Egele, M., Scholte, T., Kirda, E., & Kruegel, C. (2008). A survey on automated dynamic malware analysis solutions using virtualization. International Journal of Information Security, 10(1), 1–18.

Hochreiter, S., & Schmidhuber, J. (1997). Long short-term memory. Neural Computation, 9(8), 1735–1780.

Akhi, S. S., Shakil, F., Dey, S. K., Tusher, M. I., Kamruzzaman, F., Jamee, S. S., ... & Rahman, N. (2025). Enhancing Banking Cybersecurity: An Ensemble-Based Predictive Machine Learning Approach. The American Journal of Engineering and Technology, 7(03), 88-97.

Pabel, M. A. H., Bhattacharjee, B., Dey, S. K., Jamee, S. S., Obaid, M. O., Mia, M. S., ... & Sharif, M. K. (2025). BUSINESS ANALYTICS FOR CUSTOMER SEGMENTATION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS IN PERSONALIZED BANKING SERVICES. American Research Index Library, 1-13.

Moustafa, N., & Slay, J. (2015). UNSW-NB15: A comprehensive data set for network intrusion detection systems (UNSW-NB15 network data set). Military Communications and Information Systems Conference, 1–6.

Saxe, J., & Berlin, K. (2015). Deep neural network-based malware detection using two-dimensional binary program features. 10th International Conference on Malicious and Unwanted Software (MALWARE), 11–20.

Zhao, Z., & Chen, L. (2019). Deep learning for real-time malware detection in cloud computing environments. IEEE Transactions on Services Computing, 12(2), 1–12.

Rahman, M. M., Akhi, S. S., Hossain, S., Ayub, M. I., Siddique, M. T., Nath, A., ... & Hassan, M. M. (2024). EVALUATING MACHINE LEARNING MODELS FOR OPTIMAL CUSTOMER SEGMENTATION IN BANKING: A COMPARATIVE STUDY. The American Journal of Engineering and Technology, 6(12), 68-83.

Das, P., Pervin, T., Bhattacharjee, B., Karim, M. R., Sultana, N., Khan, M. S., ... & Kamruzzaman, F. N. U. (2024). OPTIMIZING REAL-TIME DYNAMIC PRICING STRATEGIES IN RETAIL AND E-COMMERCE USING MACHINE LEARNING MODELS. The American Journal of Engineering and Technology, 6(12), 163-177.

Hossain, M. N., Hossain, S., Nath, A., Nath, P. C., Ayub, M. I., Hassan, M. M., ... & Rasel, M. (2024). ENHANCED BANKING FRAUD DETECTION: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SUPERVISED MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS. American Research Index Library, 23-35.

Rishad, S. S. I., Shakil, F., Tisha, S. A., Afrin, S., Hassan, M. M., Choudhury, M. Z. M. E., & Rahman, N. (2025). LEVERAGING AI AND MACHINE LEARNING FOR PREDICTING, DETECTING, AND MITIGATING CYBERSECURITY THREATS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ADVANCED MODELS. American Research Index Library, 6-25.

Uddin, A., Pabel, M. A. H., Alam, M. I., KAMRUZZAMAN, F., Haque, M. S. U., Hosen, M. M., ... & Ghosh, S. K. (2025). Advancing Financial Risk Prediction and Portfolio Optimization Using Machine Learning Techniques. The American Journal of Management and Economics Innovations, 7(01), 5-20.

Ahmed, M. P., Das, A. C., Akter, P., Mou, S. N., Tisha, S. A., Shakil, F., ... & Ahmed, A. (2024). HARNESSING MACHINE LEARNING MODELS FOR ACCURATE CUSTOMER LIFETIME VALUE PREDICTION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY IN MODERN BUSINESS ANALYTICS. American Research Index Library, 06-22.

Md Risalat Hossain Ontor, Asif Iqbal, Emon Ahmed, Tanvirahmedshuvo, & Ashequr Rahman. (2024). LEVERAGING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYTICS FOR OPTIMIZING US FASHION BRANDS’ PERFORMANCE: A MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH. International Journal of Computer Science & Information System, 9(11), 45–56. https://doi.org/10.55640/ijcsis/Volume09Issue11-05

Rahman, A., Iqbal, A., Ahmed, E., & Ontor, M. R. H. (2024). PRIVACY-PRESERVING MACHINE LEARNING: TECHNIQUES, CHALLENGES, AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN SAFEGUARDING PERSONAL DATA MANAGEMENT. International journal of business and management sciences, 4(12), 18-32.

Iqbal, A., Ahmed, E., Rahman, A., & Ontor, M. R. H. (2024). ENHANCING FRAUD DETECTION AND ANOMALY DETECTION IN RETAIL BANKING USING GENERATIVE AI AND MACHINE LEARNING MODELS. The American Journal of Engineering and Technology, 6(11), 78-91.

Nguyen, Q. G., Nguyen, L. H., Hosen, M. M., Rasel, M., Shorna, J. F., Mia, M. S., & Khan, S. I. (2025). Enhancing Credit Risk Management with Machine Learning: A Comparative Study of Predictive Models for Credit Default Prediction. The American Journal of Applied sciences, 7(01), 21-30.

Bhattacharjee, B., Mou, S. N., Hossain, M. S., Rahman, M. K., Hassan, M. M., Rahman, N., ... & Haque, M. S. U. (2024). MACHINE LEARNING FOR COST ESTIMATION AND FORECASTING IN BANKING: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ALGORITHMS. Frontline Marketing,Management and Economics Journal, 4(12), 66-83.

Hossain, S., Siddique, M. T., Hosen, M. M., Jamee, S. S., Akter, S., Akter, P., ... & Khan, M. S. (2025). Comparative Analysis of Sentiment Analysis Models for Consumer Feedback: Evaluating the Impact of Machine Learning and Deep Learning Approaches on Business Strategies. Frontline Social Sciences and History Journal, 5(02), 18-29.

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