AURA: A Personal Cyber Threat System

Abstract

Personal computers and small networks have become easy targets for automated cyber attacks in recent years. Port scans, malware distribution, and remote exploits are now commonplace threats that traditional antivirus programs and firewalls struggle to address effectively. These conventional tools rely heavily on known signatures, which means they often miss new or evolving threats, leaving users vulnerable. We developed AURA as a response to this challenge. It's a modular framework designed to provide continuous, real-time protection through adaptive intelligence and automation. The system actively monitors network traffic, evaluates threats based on their behavior, and cross-references suspicious activity against global reputation databases like Spamhaus DROP and AbuseIPDB. When it identifies a genuine threat, AURA doesn't just block it the system can redirect attackers to a local honeypot where their activities are safely logged for analysis. Beyond network monitoring, AURA includes an integrity monitor that watches over critical files and system components. If something changes without authorization, users receive immediate alerts via the Twilio API. Everything comes together in a centralized web dashboard that provides a complete view of monitoring, analysis, and response activities. Our testing demonstrates that AURA successfully identifies high-risk IP addresses, isolates them in real time, and collects valuable forensic evidence—all with minimal system overhead. This work shows how AI and automation can bring enterprise-level security capabilities to personal computing environments, enabling proactive defense at the endpoint level.