IP Library Granted Patent US 12705351
Granted Patent B2
US 12705351 · App. 18/900,066 · Granted Aug 11, 2026

Apparatus and methods to classify malware with explainability with artificial intelligence models

Inventors: Sorcha Healy (Mahon, IE); Christiaan Beek (Schiphol-Rijk, NL)
Assignee: Musarubra US LLC
G06F21/56G06F21/53G06N3/045G06N3/08G06F2221/033G06F2221/034
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12705351
App. No.
18/900,066
Granted
Aug 11, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Apparatus, systems, and methods to classify malware with explainability are disclosed. An example apparatus includes at least one memory; instructions in the apparatus; and processor circuitry. The example processor circuitry is to execute the instructions to: generate feature vectors from a first input; train a neural network model using a first portion of the feature vectors; add one or more fully connected layers to the trained neural network model to form a hybrid model; validate the hybrid model using a second portion of the feature vectors; and deploy the validated hybrid model as a malware classifier, the malware classifier to provide a malware classification with explainability in response to a second input.

Claims (38)

1 . An apparatus comprising:

memory circuitry;

instructions; and

processor circuitry to execute the instructions to:

add a fully connected layer to an artificial intelligence (AI) model to form a hybrid model;

train the hybrid model;

remove the fully connected layer from the hybrid model to form a first malware classifier, the removal of the fully connected layer to expose outputs;

validate the malware classifier using the exposed outputs as features; and

deploy the malware classifier.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the malware classifier is to provide a malware classification with explainability in response to an input.

3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the deployed malware classifier is to provide explainability by indicating a portion of the input resulting in the malware classification.

4 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the input includes a string feature of at least one of an executable or software code.

5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the fully connected layer is part of a multi-layer perceptron network, and wherein the processor circuitry is to add the multi-layer perceptron network to the AI model to form the hybrid model.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the AI model includes a neural network model.

7 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the neural network model includes a convolutional neural network model with max pooling.

8 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor circuitry is to train the hybrid model using at least one of malware identification rules or threat techniques.

9 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor circuitry is to train the hybrid model using static features extracted from a portable executable.

10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor circuitry is to update the malware classifier to deploy an updated malware classifier based on at least one of feedback or new input.

11 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed, cause processor circuitry to at least:

add a fully connected layer to an artificial intelligence (AI) model to form a hybrid model;

train the hybrid model;

remove the fully connected layer from the hybrid model to form a first malware classifier, the removal of the fully connected layer to expose outputs;

validate the malware classifier using the exposed outputs as features; and

deploy the malware classifier.

12 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the malware classifier is to provide a malware classification with explainability in response to an input.

13 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the deployed malware classifier is to provide explainability by indicating a portion of the input resulting in the malware classification.

14 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the input includes a string feature of at least one of an executable or software code.

15 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the AI model includes a convolutional neural network model with max pooling, wherein the fully connected layer is part of a multi-layer perceptron network, and wherein the processor circuitry is to add the multi-layer perceptron network to the AI model to form the hybrid model.

16 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the processor circuitry is to train the hybrid model using at least one of malware identification rules or threat techniques.

17 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the processor circuitry is to train the hybrid model using static features extracted from a portable executable.

18 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the processor circuitry is to update the malware classifier to deploy an updated malware classifier based on at least one of feedback or new input.

19 . A method comprising:

adding, by executing an instruction with processor circuitry, a fully connected layer to an artificial intelligence (AI) model to form a hybrid model;

training, by executing an instruction with the processor circuitry, the hybrid model;

removing, by executing an instruction with the processor circuitry, the fully connected layer from the hybrid model to form a first malware classifier, the removal of the fully connected layer to expose outputs;

validating, by executing an instruction with the processor circuitry, the malware classifier using the exposed outputs as features; and

deploying the malware classifier.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the malware classifier is to provide a malware classification with explainability in response to an input by indicating a portion of the input resulting in the malware classification.