PHISHREV: A Hybrid Machine Learning and Post-Hoc Non-monotonic Reasoning Framework for Context-Aware Phishing Website Classification
Mainak Sen, Kumar Sankar Ray, Amlan Chakrabarti
Abstract
Phishing detection systems are predominantly rely on statistical machine learning models, which often lack contextual reasoning and are vulnerable to adversarial manipulation. In this work, we propose a hybrid framework that integrates machine learning classifiers with non-monotonic reasoning using Answer Set Programming (ASP) to enable context-aware decision refinement. The proposed post-hoc reasoning layer incorporates expert knowledge to revise classifier predictions through formal belief revisions. Experimental results indicate that the reasoning module modifies 5.08\% of classifier outputs, leading to improved decision consistency. A key advantage is that new domain knowledge can be incorporated into the reasoning layer in $\mathcal{O}(n)$ time, eliminating the need for model retraining.
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Classified with taxonomy v2 on Wed, 2 Sept 2026.