Tiny noise, big mistakes: adversarial perturbations induce errors in brain–computer interface spellers

Zhang, X; Wu, D; Ding, L; Luo, H; Lin, C-T; Jung, T-P; Chavarriaga, R

Tiny noise, big mistakes: adversarial perturbations induce errors in brain–computer interface spellers

Zhang, X Wu, D Ding, L Luo, H Lin, C-T Jung, T-P Chavarriaga, R

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Publisher:: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: National Science Review, 2020
Issue Date:: 2020-09-10

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Zhang, X
dc.contributor.author	Wu, D
dc.contributor.author	Ding, L
dc.contributor.author	Luo, H
dc.contributor.author	Lin, C-T
dc.contributor.author	Jung, T-P
dc.contributor.author	Chavarriaga, R
dc.date.accessioned	2021-03-15T23:43:22Z
dc.date.available	2021-03-15T23:43:22Z
dc.date.issued	2020-09-10
dc.identifier.citation	National Science Review, 2020
dc.identifier.issn	2095-5138
dc.identifier.issn	2053-714X
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/147189
dc.description.abstract	<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>An electroencephalogram (EEG)-based brain–computer interface (BCI) speller allows a user to input text to a computer by thought. It is particularly useful to severely disabled individuals, e.g. amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients, who have no other effective means of communication with another person or a computer. Most studies so far focused on making EEG-based BCI spellers faster and more reliable; however, few have considered their security. This study, for the first time, shows that P300 and steady-state visual evoked potential BCI spellers are very vulnerable, i.e. they can be severely attacked by adversarial perturbations, which are too tiny to be noticed when added to EEG signals, but can mislead the spellers to spell anything the attacker wants. The consequence could range from merely user frustration to severe misdiagnosis in clinical applications. We hope our research can attract more attention to the security of EEG-based BCI spellers, and more broadly, EEG-based BCIs, which has received little attention before.</jats:p>
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Oxford University Press (OUP)
dc.relation.ispartof	National Science Review
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1093/nsr/nwaa233
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.rights	This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in National Science Review following peer review. The version of record National Science Review, 2020 is available online at: https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwaa233.	en_US
dc.subject	0703 Crop and Pasture Production
dc.title	Tiny noise, big mistakes: adversarial perturbations induce errors in brain–computer interface spellers
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.for	0703 Crop and Pasture Production
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - AAII - Australian Artificial Intelligence Institute
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Computer Science
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.date.updated	2021-03-15T23:43:20Z
pubs.publication-status	Published online

Abstract:

Abstract An electroencephalogram (EEG)-based brain–computer interface (BCI) speller allows a user to input text to a computer by thought. It is particularly useful to severely disabled individuals, e.g. amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients, who have no other effective means of communication with another person or a computer. Most studies so far focused on making EEG-based BCI spellers faster and more reliable; however, few have considered their security. This study, for the first time, shows that P300 and steady-state visual evoked potential BCI spellers are very vulnerable, i.e. they can be severely attacked by adversarial perturbations, which are too tiny to be noticed when added to EEG signals, but can mislead the spellers to spell anything the attacker wants. The consequence could range from merely user frustration to severe misdiagnosis in clinical applications. We hope our research can attract more attention to the security of EEG-based BCI spellers, and more broadly, EEG-based BCIs, which has received little attention before.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/147189