Abstracting Network Traffic as Video for Representation Learning

A plurality of captured packets are received. The plurality of captured packets are from a plurality of packet flows. A packet flow is a communication session between two devices. For example, a packet flow may be a communication session between a client and a server. The plurality of captured packets are sorted into individual packet flows. The individual packet flows are converted into individual videos. For example, each packet from each packet flow is stored as a separate video frame in an individual video. A machine learning algorithm is applied to the individual videos to perform analytic tasks on the individual videos. For example, the machine learning algorithm may be used to identify anomalies within a packet flow and/or between packet flows.