Abstract:
Adversarial susceptibility of neural image captioning is still under-explored due to the complex multi-model nature of the task. We introduce a GAN-based adversarial atta...Show MoreMetadata
Abstract:
Adversarial susceptibility of neural image captioning is still under-explored due to the complex multi-model nature of the task. We introduce a GAN-based adversarial attack to effectively fool encoder-decoder based image captioning frameworks. Unique to our attack is the systematic disruption of the internal representation of an image at the encoder stage which allows control over the captions generated at the decoder stage. We cause the desired disruption with an input perturbation that promotes similarity between the features of the input image with a target image of our choice. The target image provides a convenient handle to control the incorrect captions in our method. We do not assume any knowledge of the decoder module, which makes our attack ‘gray-box’. Moreover, our attack remains agnostic to the type of decoder module, thereby proving effective for RNNs as well as Transformers as the language models. This makes our attack highly pragmatic.
Published in: IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security ( Volume: 18)
Funding Agency:

Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
College of Aeronautical Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan
Nayyer Aafaq received the B.E. degree (Hons.) in avionics from the College of Aeronautical Engineering (CAE), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Pakistan, in 2007, the M.S. degree (Hons.) in systems engineering from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia, in 2012, and the Ph.D. degree from the School of Computer Science and Software Engineering (CSSE), The University of Western Austra...Show More
Nayyer Aafaq received the B.E. degree (Hons.) in avionics from the College of Aeronautical Engineering (CAE), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Pakistan, in 2007, the M.S. degree (Hons.) in systems engineering from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia, in 2012, and the Ph.D. degree from the School of Computer Science and Software Engineering (CSSE), The University of Western Austra...View more

Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
Naveed Akhtar (Member, IEEE) received the master’s degree from Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, Germany, and the Ph.D. degree in computer science from The University of Western Australia (UWA). He is currently a Senior Research Fellow with UWA. His research is regularly published in the prestigious sources of computer vision, including IEEE Transactions Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, IEEE Conferences on Computer Vi...Show More
Naveed Akhtar (Member, IEEE) received the master’s degree from Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, Germany, and the Ph.D. degree in computer science from The University of Western Australia (UWA). He is currently a Senior Research Fellow with UWA. His research is regularly published in the prestigious sources of computer vision, including IEEE Transactions Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, IEEE Conferences on Computer Vi...View more

Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
Wei Liu received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Newcastle, Australia, in 2003. She is currently working with the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, The University of Western Australia, and a Co-Lead of the Faculty’s Big Data Research Group. Her research impact in the field of knowledge discovery from natural language text data is evident by a series of highly cited papers, and the reputable ...Show More
Wei Liu received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Newcastle, Australia, in 2003. She is currently working with the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, The University of Western Australia, and a Co-Lead of the Faculty’s Big Data Research Group. Her research impact in the field of knowledge discovery from natural language text data is evident by a series of highly cited papers, and the reputable ...View more

Center for Research in Computer Vision (CRCV), University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA
Mubarak Shah (Life Fellow, IEEE) is currently the Trustee Chair Professor of computer science and the Founding Director of the Center for Research in Computer Vision, University of Central Florida (UCF). His research interests include video surveillance, visual tracking, human activity recognition, visual analysis of crowded scenes, video registration, and UAV video analysis. He is a fellow of the AAAS, IAPR, and SPIE. He...Show More
Mubarak Shah (Life Fellow, IEEE) is currently the Trustee Chair Professor of computer science and the Founding Director of the Center for Research in Computer Vision, University of Central Florida (UCF). His research interests include video surveillance, visual tracking, human activity recognition, visual analysis of crowded scenes, video registration, and UAV video analysis. He is a fellow of the AAAS, IAPR, and SPIE. He...View more

Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
Ajmal Mian (Senior Member, IEEE) is currently a Professor of computer science with The University of Western Australia. His research interests include computer vision, deep learning, video analysis, human action recognition, 3-D point cloud analysis, and facial recognition. He is a fellow of the International Association for Pattern Recognition. He was a recipient of three prestigious national-level fellowships from the A...Show More
Ajmal Mian (Senior Member, IEEE) is currently a Professor of computer science with The University of Western Australia. His research interests include computer vision, deep learning, video analysis, human action recognition, 3-D point cloud analysis, and facial recognition. He is a fellow of the International Association for Pattern Recognition. He was a recipient of three prestigious national-level fellowships from the A...View more

Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
College of Aeronautical Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan
Nayyer Aafaq received the B.E. degree (Hons.) in avionics from the College of Aeronautical Engineering (CAE), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Pakistan, in 2007, the M.S. degree (Hons.) in systems engineering from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia, in 2012, and the Ph.D. degree from the School of Computer Science and Software Engineering (CSSE), The University of Western Australia (UWA). His Ph.D. thesis won Dean’s List for Outstanding Thesis Award. He is currently working as an Assistant Professor with the NUST. His research in computer vision and pattern recognition has been published in prestigious venues of the field, including IEEE CVPR, IEEE Transactions on Multimedia, IEEE Transactions on Artificial Intelligence, and ACM Computing Surveys (ACM CSUR). His current research interests include deep learning, video analysis and intersection of natural language processing (NLP), computer vision (CV), and artificial intelligence. He was a recipient of SIRF Scholarship with UWA.
Nayyer Aafaq received the B.E. degree (Hons.) in avionics from the College of Aeronautical Engineering (CAE), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Pakistan, in 2007, the M.S. degree (Hons.) in systems engineering from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia, in 2012, and the Ph.D. degree from the School of Computer Science and Software Engineering (CSSE), The University of Western Australia (UWA). His Ph.D. thesis won Dean’s List for Outstanding Thesis Award. He is currently working as an Assistant Professor with the NUST. His research in computer vision and pattern recognition has been published in prestigious venues of the field, including IEEE CVPR, IEEE Transactions on Multimedia, IEEE Transactions on Artificial Intelligence, and ACM Computing Surveys (ACM CSUR). His current research interests include deep learning, video analysis and intersection of natural language processing (NLP), computer vision (CV), and artificial intelligence. He was a recipient of SIRF Scholarship with UWA.View more

Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
Naveed Akhtar (Member, IEEE) received the master’s degree from Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, Germany, and the Ph.D. degree in computer science from The University of Western Australia (UWA). He is currently a Senior Research Fellow with UWA. His research is regularly published in the prestigious sources of computer vision, including IEEE Transactions Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, IEEE Conferences on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), and European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV). His research interests include adversarial machine learning, robotics, explainable artificial intelligence, and hyperspectral image analysis. He was a recipient of the prestigious Fellowship by the Australian Office of National Intelligence. He is a Finalist of the Western Australia’s Early Career Scientist of the Year 2021 and Universal Scientific Education and Research Network top ten young scientist in Formal Sciences for 2021. He also serves/served as an Area Chair for CVPR 2022, ECCV 2022, and WACV 2022. He serves as an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions Neural Networks and Learning Systems and IEEE Access, and a Guest Editor of Neural Computing and Applications and Remote Sensing journals. He is an ACM Distinguished Speaker.
Naveed Akhtar (Member, IEEE) received the master’s degree from Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, Germany, and the Ph.D. degree in computer science from The University of Western Australia (UWA). He is currently a Senior Research Fellow with UWA. His research is regularly published in the prestigious sources of computer vision, including IEEE Transactions Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, IEEE Conferences on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), and European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV). His research interests include adversarial machine learning, robotics, explainable artificial intelligence, and hyperspectral image analysis. He was a recipient of the prestigious Fellowship by the Australian Office of National Intelligence. He is a Finalist of the Western Australia’s Early Career Scientist of the Year 2021 and Universal Scientific Education and Research Network top ten young scientist in Formal Sciences for 2021. He also serves/served as an Area Chair for CVPR 2022, ECCV 2022, and WACV 2022. He serves as an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions Neural Networks and Learning Systems and IEEE Access, and a Guest Editor of Neural Computing and Applications and Remote Sensing journals. He is an ACM Distinguished Speaker.View more

Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
Wei Liu received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Newcastle, Australia, in 2003. She is currently working with the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, The University of Western Australia, and a Co-Lead of the Faculty’s Big Data Research Group. Her research impact in the field of knowledge discovery from natural language text data is evident by a series of highly cited papers, and the reputable top data mining and knowledge management journals and conferences that she has been published in. These include for example, ACM Computer Surveys, Journal of Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery, Knowledge and Information Systems, International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE), and ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management (CIKM). She has won three Australian Research Council Grants and several industry grants. Her current research interests include deep learning methods for knowledge graph construction from natural language text, sequential data mining, and text mining.
Wei Liu received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Newcastle, Australia, in 2003. She is currently working with the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, The University of Western Australia, and a Co-Lead of the Faculty’s Big Data Research Group. Her research impact in the field of knowledge discovery from natural language text data is evident by a series of highly cited papers, and the reputable top data mining and knowledge management journals and conferences that she has been published in. These include for example, ACM Computer Surveys, Journal of Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery, Knowledge and Information Systems, International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE), and ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management (CIKM). She has won three Australian Research Council Grants and several industry grants. Her current research interests include deep learning methods for knowledge graph construction from natural language text, sequential data mining, and text mining.View more

Center for Research in Computer Vision (CRCV), University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA
Mubarak Shah (Life Fellow, IEEE) is currently the Trustee Chair Professor of computer science and the Founding Director of the Center for Research in Computer Vision, University of Central Florida (UCF). His research interests include video surveillance, visual tracking, human activity recognition, visual analysis of crowded scenes, video registration, and UAV video analysis. He is a fellow of the AAAS, IAPR, and SPIE. He received the IEEE Outstanding Engineering Educator Award in 1997. In 2006, he was awarded a Pegasus Professor Award, the highest award at UCF. He received the Harris Corporations Engineering Achievement Award in 1999, the TOKTEN Awards from UNDP in 1995, 1997, and 2000, the Teaching Incentive Program Award in 1995 and 2003, the Research Incentive Award in 2003 and 2009, the Millionaires Club Awards in 2005 and 2006, the University Distinguished Researcher Award in 2007, and the Honorable mention for the ICCV 2005 Where Am I? Challenge Problem, and was nominated for the Best Paper Award at the ACM Multimedia Conference in 2005. He was the Program Co-Chair of CVPR 2008. He is an Editor of an International Book Series on Video Computing. He was the Editor-in-Chief of Machine Vision and Applications journal, an Associate Editor of ACM Computing Surveys journal, and an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence. He was a Guest Editor of the Special Issue of International Journal of Computer Vision on Video Computing. He is an ACM Distinguished Speaker. He was an IEEE Distinguished Visitor Speaker from 1997 to 2000.
Mubarak Shah (Life Fellow, IEEE) is currently the Trustee Chair Professor of computer science and the Founding Director of the Center for Research in Computer Vision, University of Central Florida (UCF). His research interests include video surveillance, visual tracking, human activity recognition, visual analysis of crowded scenes, video registration, and UAV video analysis. He is a fellow of the AAAS, IAPR, and SPIE. He received the IEEE Outstanding Engineering Educator Award in 1997. In 2006, he was awarded a Pegasus Professor Award, the highest award at UCF. He received the Harris Corporations Engineering Achievement Award in 1999, the TOKTEN Awards from UNDP in 1995, 1997, and 2000, the Teaching Incentive Program Award in 1995 and 2003, the Research Incentive Award in 2003 and 2009, the Millionaires Club Awards in 2005 and 2006, the University Distinguished Researcher Award in 2007, and the Honorable mention for the ICCV 2005 Where Am I? Challenge Problem, and was nominated for the Best Paper Award at the ACM Multimedia Conference in 2005. He was the Program Co-Chair of CVPR 2008. He is an Editor of an International Book Series on Video Computing. He was the Editor-in-Chief of Machine Vision and Applications journal, an Associate Editor of ACM Computing Surveys journal, and an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence. He was a Guest Editor of the Special Issue of International Journal of Computer Vision on Video Computing. He is an ACM Distinguished Speaker. He was an IEEE Distinguished Visitor Speaker from 1997 to 2000.View more

Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
Ajmal Mian (Senior Member, IEEE) is currently a Professor of computer science with The University of Western Australia. His research interests include computer vision, deep learning, video analysis, human action recognition, 3-D point cloud analysis, and facial recognition. He is a fellow of the International Association for Pattern Recognition. He was a recipient of three prestigious national-level fellowships from the Australian Research Council (ARC), including the Future Fellowship Award. He received the West Australian Early Career Scientist of the Year Award 2012, the HBF Mid-Career Scientist of the Year Award 2022, and several other awards, including the Excellence in Research Supervision Award, the EH Thompson Award, the ASPIRE Professional Development Award, the Vice-Chancellors Mid-Career Research Award, the Outstanding Young Investigator Award, and the Australasian Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award. He has secured research funding from the ARC, the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, the U.S. Department of Defense DARPA, and the Australian Department of Defense. He was a General Chair of the Asian Conference on Computer Vision in 2018 and the International Conference on Digital Image Computing Techniques and Applications in 2019. He is a Senior Editor of IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems and an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Image Processing and Pattern Recognition.
Ajmal Mian (Senior Member, IEEE) is currently a Professor of computer science with The University of Western Australia. His research interests include computer vision, deep learning, video analysis, human action recognition, 3-D point cloud analysis, and facial recognition. He is a fellow of the International Association for Pattern Recognition. He was a recipient of three prestigious national-level fellowships from the Australian Research Council (ARC), including the Future Fellowship Award. He received the West Australian Early Career Scientist of the Year Award 2012, the HBF Mid-Career Scientist of the Year Award 2022, and several other awards, including the Excellence in Research Supervision Award, the EH Thompson Award, the ASPIRE Professional Development Award, the Vice-Chancellors Mid-Career Research Award, the Outstanding Young Investigator Award, and the Australasian Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award. He has secured research funding from the ARC, the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, the U.S. Department of Defense DARPA, and the Australian Department of Defense. He was a General Chair of the Asian Conference on Computer Vision in 2018 and the International Conference on Digital Image Computing Techniques and Applications in 2019. He is a Senior Editor of IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems and an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Image Processing and Pattern Recognition.View more