k-mean clustering in the security domain
K-Means Clustering Algorithm
K-Means Clustering is an unsupervised learning algorithm that is used to solve the clustering problems in machine learning or data science. In this topic, we will learn what is K-means clustering algorithm, how the algorithm works, along with the Python implementation of k-means clustering.
What is K-Means Algorithm?
K-Means Clustering is an Unsupervised Learning algorithm, which groups the unlabeled dataset into different clusters. Here K defines the number of pre-defined clusters that need to be created in the process, as if K=2, there will be two clusters, and for K=3, there will be three clusters, and so on.
" It is an iterative algorithm that divides the unlabeled dataset into k different clusters in such a way that each dataset belongs only one group that has similar properties."It allows us to cluster the data into different groups and a convenient way to discover the categories of groups in the unlabeled dataset on its own without the need for any training.
It is a centroid-based algorithm, where each cluster is associated with a centroid. The main aim of this algorithm is to minimize the sum of distances between the data point and their corresponding clusters.
The algorithm takes the unlabeled dataset as input, divides the dataset into k-number of clusters, and repeats the process until it does not find the best clusters. The value of k should be predetermined in this algorithm.
The k-means clustering algorithm mainly performs two tasks:
- Determines the best value for K center points or centroids by an iterative process.
- Assigns each data point to its closest k-center. Those data points which are near to the particular k-center, create a cluster.
Hence each cluster has datapoints with some commonalities, and it is away from other clusters.
The below diagram explains the working of the K-means Clustering Algorithm:
How does the K-Means Algorithm Work?
The working of the K-Means algorithm is explained in the below steps:
Step-1: Select the number K to decide the number of clusters.
Step-2: Select random K points or centroids. (It can be other from the input dataset).
Step-3: Assign each data point to their closest centroid, which will form the predefined K clusters.
Step-4: Calculate the variance and place a new centroid of each cluster.
Step-5: Repeat the third steps, which means reassign each datapoint to the new closest centroid of each cluster.
Step-6: If any reassignment occurs, then go to step-4 else go to FINISH.
Step-7: The model is ready.
How to choose the value of “K number of clusters” in K-means Clustering?
The performance of the K-means clustering algorithm depends upon highly efficient clusters that it forms. But choosing the optimal number of clusters is a big task. There are some different ways to find the optimal number of clusters, but here we are discussing the most appropriate method to find the number of clusters or value of K.
Where can we apply k-means?
k-means can typically be applied to data that has a smaller number of dimensions, is numeric, and is continuous. think of a scenario in which you want to make groups of similar things from a randomly distributed collection of things; k-means is very suitable for such scenarios.
Identifying crime localities
with data related to crimes available in specific localities in a city, the category of crime, the area of the crime, and the association between the two can give quality insight into crime-prone areas within a city or a locality.
Insurance fraud detection
machine learning has a critical role to play in fraud detection and has numerous applications in automobile, healthcare, and insurance fraud detection. utilizing past historical data on fraudulent claims, it is possible to isolate new claims based on its proximity to clusters that indicate fraudulent patterns. since insurance fraud can potentially have a multi-million dollar impact on a company, the ability to detect frauds is crucial.
Cyber-profiling criminals
cyber-profiling is the process of collecting data from individuals and groups to identify significant co-relations. the idea of cyber profiling is derived from criminal profiles, which provide information on the investigation division to classify the types of criminals who were at the crime scene.
Automatic clustering of it alerts
large enterprise it infrastructure technology components such as network, storage, or database generate large volumes of alert messages. because alert messages potentially point to operational issues, they must be manually screened for prioritization for downstream processes. clustering of data can provide insight into categories of alerts and mean time to repair, and help in failure prediction.
