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Stream/Area:
-
Subject:
-
Paper ID:
IJSREM62132
Volume:
10 |
4 |
April 2026
Pages:
1-16
Publication Frequency:
Monthly (12 issues per year)
License:International Journal of Scientific Research in Engineering and Management follows the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) License, allowing free use and distribution with proper attribution.
Department of Computer Science
Sir Parashurambhau College
Department of Computer Science
Sir Parashurambhau College
Department of Computer Science
Sir Parashurambhau College
Phishing attacks have emerged as one of the most critical cybersecurity threats, targeting individuals and organizations by creating fraudulent websites that mimic legitimate platforms to steal sensitive information such as login credentials, financial data, and personal details. With the rapid growth of digital services, phishing techniques have evolved significantly, making traditional detection methods such as blacklist-based and rule-based approaches insufficient, particularly against newly generated and sophisticated phishing websites. This study presents a machine learning-based approach for detecting phishing websites using structured and feature-driven analysis. The proposed system leverages a publicly available dataset consisting of 11,055 website instances with 30 distinct features, including URL-based attributes, domain-related characteristics, and security indicators. A Logistic Regression algorithm is employed as the primary classification model due to its simplicity, interpretability, and effectiveness in handling binary classification problems. The dataset undergoes preprocessing steps including data cleaning, transformation, and feature selection to enhance model performance and reduce computational complexity. The model is trained using an 80:20 train-test split and evaluated using standard performance metrics such as accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model achieves an accuracy of 92.45%, with precision of 91.8%, recall of 93.2%, and F1-score of 92.5%, indicating strong predictive capability and balanced classification performance. In addition to model development, a user-friendly web-based interface is implemented to allow real-time phishing detection by accepting user-input URLs and providing instant classification results. This enhances the practical applicability of the system and makes it accessible to non-technical users. The findings of this research highlight the effectiveness of machine learning techniques in identifying phishing websites and overcoming the limitations of traditional detection systems. The proposed approach offers a scalable, efficient, and adaptable solution that can be integrated into modern cybersecurity frameworks. Future enhancements may include real-time data integration, deployment as a browser extension, and the use of advanced deep learning models to further improve detection accuracy and robustness.
KEYWORDS
This study focused on the development of an automated phishing website detection system using machine learning techniques. With the increasing reliance on digital platforms and the rapid growth of cyber threats, particularly phishing attacks, there is a critical need for efficient and reliable detection mechanisms. The proposed system addresses this need by leveraging structured website features and applying a data-driven classification approach. The implementation of the Logistic Regression model demonstrated that even a relatively simple algorithm can produce strong and consistent results when supported by well-preprocessed and relevant data. The model achieved an accuracy of 92.45%, along with balanced precision and recall values, indicating its capability to correctly classify both phishing and legitimate websites with minimal error. These results highlight the effectiveness of feature-based analysis, especially attributes related to URL structure, domain characteristics, and security indicators. Another important contribution of this work is the integration of the trained model into a user-friendly interface. This enhances the practical applicability of the system, allowing users to input URLs and receive immediate predictions. Such an approach bridges the gap between theoretical model development and real-world usability, making the system more accessible to non-technical users. The study also reinforces the importance of machine learning in cybersecurity. Compared to traditional detection techniques, the proposed approach offers improved adaptability and the ability to detect previously unseen phishing patterns. While the system is developed in a controlled environment, the results indicate strong potential for deployment in real-world applications. Overall, this research successfully demonstrates that machine learning can serve as an effective tool for phishing detection. It provides a solid foundation for further improvements and highlights the importance of combining data analysis, model development, and system implementation to address modern cybersecurity challenges.
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Publication Date
4/30/2026
Peer Review Type
Double-Blind Peer Review
Review Rounds: 2
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The authors declare no conflict of interest related to this research work.
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