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Cloud-delivered Advanced AnalyticsExabeam Advanced Analytics Administration Guide

How Exabeam Models Work

Since anomaly-based rules depend on models, it is helpful to have a basic understanding of how Exabeam's models work.

Our anomaly detection relies on statistical profiling of network entity behavior. Our statistical profiling is not only about user-level data. In fact, Exabeam profiles all network entities, including hosts and machines, and this extends to applications or processes, as data permits. The statistical profiling is histogram frequency based. To perform the histogram-based profiling, which requires discrete input, we incorporate a variety of methods to transform and to condition the data. Probability distributions are modeled using histograms, which are graphical representations of data. There are three different model types – categorical, numerical clustered, and numerical time-of-week.

Categorical is the most common. It models a string with significance: number, host name, username, etc. Where numbers fall into specific categories which cannot be quantified. When you model which host a user logs into, it is a categorical model.

Numerical Clustered involves numbers that have meaning – it builds clusters around a user’s common activities so you can easily see when the user deviates from this norm. For example, you can model how many hosts a user normally accesses in a session.

Numerical Time-of-Week models when users log into their machines in a 24-hour period. It models time as a cycle so that the beginning and end of the period are close together, rather than far apart. For example, if a user logs into a machine Sunday at 11:00 pm, it is closely modeled to Monday at 12:00am.