Enhancing Cybersecurity: A Multilayered Approach to Phishing Website Detection Using Machine Learning

This paper employs machine learning techniques to combat the escalating threat of phishing attacks in the digital realm. The research builds a predictive model capable of differentiating between phishing and legitimate websites by examining a broad range of information retrieved from website URLs, including address bar-based properties, domain characteristics, and webpage content. To ascertain their effectiveness in this task, six well-known machine learning algorithms—Decision Tree, Random Forest, XGBoost, Deep Learning, Autoencoder Neural Network, and Support Vector Machines—are rigorously investigated. Notably, the Multilayer Perceptrons algorithm emerges as the standout performer, achieving an 86.4% accuracy in identifying phishing websites. This endeavor not only advances the field of cybersecurity but also empowers individuals to proactively safeguard themselves against the pervasive threat of phishing attacks in an increasingly interconnected digital landscape.