SmartGuard: A Cloud-Assisted Behavioral Security Framework for File, Process, and USB Activity Monitoring

Abstract

Cybersecurity has seen a notable increase in intricate threats including ransomware, insider threats, polymorphic malware, and data breaches. Conventional signaturebased antivirus programs struggle to identify these new threats because they depend on familiar patterns and cannot evaluate unknown behaviors. To overcome these constraints, this paper introduces SmartGuard, a real-time behavior analysis system crafted to identify harmful file activities by observing system-level interactions, user behavior, and process irregularities. SmartGuard employs homomorphic encryption for secure file analysis, anomaly detection based on rules, malware scanning via YARA and ClamAV, cloud-enabled audit logging, USB activity tracking, and webcam-enabled forensic evidence gathering. The modular design of the system improves early threat identification, guarantees data privacy, and facilitates secure file transfers with OTPbased authentication.  Experimental findings indicate that SmartGuard shortens detection time, boosts behavioral detection precision, and improves forensic visibility relative to conventional antivirus systems. SmartGuard's uniqueness stems from its hybrid strategy—merging real-time behavioral analytics, privacy-focused encryption, USB forensics, and cloudconnected monitoring—resulting in a scalable and all-encompassing solution for enterprise cybersecurity. Keywords: Real-time behavioral analysis, malicious file activity detection, ransomware detection, insider threat monitoring, homomorphic encryption, privacy-preserving malware analysis, YARA rules.