Living Off the Land on Linux: Detecting LOTL Attacks Using LLM Analysis of auditd Logs

Anbi Guo

Large language models (LLMs) were evaluated for detecting Living Off The Land (LOTL) attacks using Linux audit logs. All manually simulated attacks were successfully identified across three prompt strategies. However, the amount of noise varied significantly—generic prompts produced the most false positives, while targeted prompts achieved better precision. These findings demonstrate the potential of LLMs in log-based threat detection and emphasize the need for improved prompt design to reduce false alerts.

Major: 
Computer Engineering
Exhibition Category: 
Engineering
Exhibition Format: 
Poster Presentation
Campus: 
University Park
Faculty Sponsor: 
Mahfuza Farooque
Poster Number: 
208