We present a novel approach to detect misuse within an information retrieval system by gathering and maintaining knowledge of the behavior of the user rather than anticipating attacks by unknown assailants. Our approach is based on building and maintaining a profile of the behavior of the system user through tracking, or monitoring of user activity within the information retrieval system. Any new activity of the user is compared to the user profile to detect a potential misuse for the authorized user. We propose four different methods to detect misuse in information retrieval systems. Our experimental results on 2 GB collection favorably demonstrate the validity of our approach. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.3 [Information Systems]: Information Storage and Retrieval; H.3.4 [Information Storage and Retrieval]: Systems and Software—User Profiles and Alerts; H.4 [Information Systems]: Information Systems Applications General Terms Algorithms, Experimentation, Security Keywor...
Rebecca Cathey, Ling Ma, Nazli Goharian, David A.