CST-AFNet: A dual attention-based deep learning framework for intrusion detection in IoT networks

Abstract

The rapid expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT) has revolutionized modern industries by enabling smart automation and real-time connectivity. However, this evolution has also introduced complex cybersecurity challenges due to the heterogeneous, resource-constrained, and distributed nature of these environments. To address these challenges, this research presents CST-AFNet, a novel dual attention-based deep learning framework specifically designed for robust intrusion detection in IoT networks. The model integrates multi-scale Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) for spatial feature extraction, Bidirectional Gated Recurrent Units (BiGRUs) for capturing temporal dependencies, and a dual attention mechanism, channel and temporal attention to enhance focus on critical patterns in the data. The proposed method was trained and evaluated on the Edge-IIoTset dataset, a comprehensive and realistic benchmark containing over 2.2 million labeled instances spanning 15 attack types and benign traffic, collected from a seven-layer industrial testbed. Our proposed model achieves an outstanding accuracy with 15 attack types and benign traffic. CST-AFNet model achieves 99.97 % accuracy. Moreover, this model demonstrates an exceptional accuracy with macro-averaged precision, recall, and F1-score all above 99.3 %. Experimental results demonstrate that CST-AFNet achieves superior detection accuracy, significantly outperforming traditional deep learning models. The findings confirm that CST-AFNet is a powerful and scalable solution for real-time cyber threat detection in complex IoT/IIoT environments, paving the way for more secure, intelligent, and adaptive cyber-physical systems.