Black-box risk scoring models permeate our lives, yet are typically proprietary or opaque. We propose Distill-and-Compare, a model distillation and comparison approach to audit such models. To gain insight into black-box models, we treat them as teachers, training transparent student models to mimic the risk scores ass…
Improves model classification accuracy in black-box settings.
problem Difficulty in inferring model properties due to limited query access.
method Introduces discriminative factorization to distinguish high-quality queries.
result Probability of chance-level classification decreases exponentially with query budget.
Bayesian optimization outperformed random search in machine learning hyperparameter tuning challenge.
problem Optimizing hyperparameters of machine learning models using derivative-free methods.
method Bayesian optimization vs. random search on real datasets.
result Bayesian optimization significantly outperformed random search in held-out objective functions.
NP-Attack reduces query counts for black-box adversarial attacks.
problem Efficiency of black-box adversarial attacks is low.
method Uses Neural Process to characterize image structure and find adversarial examples.
result NP-Attack significantly decreases query counts.
Note that this paper is superceded by "Black-Box Adversarial Attacks with Limited Queries and Information." Current neural network-based image classifiers are susceptible to adversarial examples, even in the black-box setting, where the attacker is limited to query access without access to gradients. Previous methods -…
Current neural network-based classifiers are susceptible to adversarial examples even in the black-box setting, where the attacker only has query access to the model. In practice, the threat model for real-world systems is often more restrictive than the typical black-box model where the adversary can observe the full …
Efficiently controls unknown linear systems with black-box interactions.
problem Controlling an unknown linear dynamical system from black-box interactions.
method First efficient algorithm with sublinear regret, using robust system identification.
result Resolves open problem on stochastic LQR and black-box LQR control.
New method improves black-box attacks using pre-trained models.
problem Efficiently attacking black-box models with limited information.
method EigenBA algorithm leveraging pre-trained white-box model's Jacobian matrix.
result Optimal perturbations are related to right singular vectors of Jacobian matrix.
Adversarial examples pose a threat to deep neural network models in a variety of scenarios, from settings where the adversary has complete knowledge of the model and to the opposite "black box" setting. Black box attacks are particularly threatening as the adversary only needs access to the input and output of the mode…
Study examines adversarial robustness of ANN variants, revealing differences in black-box settings.
problem Adversarial robustness of alternative neural network architectures.
method Analysis of conventional, stochastic ANNs, and SNNs across three datasets; experiments in white-box and black-box settings.
result Stochastic ANNs are more robust than conventional ANNs in black-box settings, especially with surrogate attacks.
Study adversarial perturbations in classification, analyzing learning and certification.
problem Formal study of classification under adversarial perturbations from both learner and third-party perspectives.
method PAC-type semi-supervised learning framework, black-box certification under limited query budget, adversary analysis.
result Existence of a polynomial query complexity adversary implies the existence of a sample efficient robust learner.
Bayesian model explains and improves black-box estimators for class distribution.
problem Calibrating probabilistic classifiers and uncertainty quantification for unlabeled data.
method Introduced a Bayesian model approximating the ground-truth generative process, using efficient MCMC sampling.
result The Bayesian model is competitive and sometimes superior to established point estimators.
We propose an intriguingly simple method for the construction of adversarial images in the black-box setting. In constrast to the white-box scenario, constructing black-box adversarial images has the additional constraint on query budget, and efficient attacks remain an open problem to date. With only the mild assumpti…
Paper tackles constrained robust optimization without gradients.
problem Constrained robust (min-max) optimization in a black-box setting.
method Integrates ZO gradient estimator with alternating projected SGD-ascent method.
result Proposed ZO-Min-Max framework converges sub-linearly under mild conditions.
We interpret black box predictive models using causal attribution.
problem Interpreting models trained using machine learning in high-stakes applications.
method Estimate causal effects of model inputs on output using observational data.
result Effective interpretation of black box predictive models via causal attribution.
Divide-and-conquer framework speeds up black-box inference for large data.
problem Computational intractability of uncertainty quantification for expensive data simulation.
method Divide data into partitions, train on a subset, bootstrap on partitions, combine results.
result Feasibility of estimating max-stable process parameters with tens of thousands of locations.
New analysis improves black-box k-PCA algorithms, reducing parameter loss.
problem Designing efficient k-PCA algorithms with black-box access to a 1-PCA oracle. method Black-box deflation methods, analyzing ePCA and cPCA approximations.
result Deflation methods suffer no asymptotic parameter loss for k-cPCA in feasible regimes. Paper proposes ZO-NGD for more efficient black-box attacks.
problem Vulnerability of state-of-the-art DNNs to adversarial attacks.
method Zeroth-order natural gradient descent (ZO-NGD) for black-box attacks.
result ZO-NGD achieves significantly lower model query complexities.
The paper extends statistical inference methods for black-box generative models.
problem Understanding and validating black-box generative models without access to their internal data.
method Develops model-level statistical inference tasks using generative model representations.
result Model-level representations are effective for multiple inference tasks.
In this paper, we consider the problem of black box continuous submodular maximization where we only have access to the function values and no information about the derivatives is provided. For a monotone and continuous DR-submodular function, and subject to a bounded convex body constraint, we propose Black-box Contin…
We study the problem of generating adversarial examples in a black-box setting in which only loss-oracle access to a model is available. We introduce a framework that conceptually unifies much of the existing work on black-box attacks, and we demonstrate that the current state-of-the-art methods are optimal in a natura…
New black-box attack method improves GNN defense without needing training data.
problem Vulnerability of Graph Neural Networks to adversarial attacks.
method Developed a gradient-based black-box attack algorithm, BBGA, which does not require access to training data.
result BBGA achieves stable attack performance without accessing training sets, and is effective against various defenses.
Method makes non-interpretable models more intervenable.
problem Making non-interpretable models more understandable and controllable.
method Intervenability formalization and fine-tuning of black-box models.
result Fine-tuned black-box models are more intervenable and often better-calibrated.
This work addresses the situation where a black-box model with good predictive performance is chosen over its interpretable competitors, and we show interpretability is still achievable in this case. Our solution is to find an interpretable substitute on a subset of data where the black-box model is overkill or nearly …
Sparse-RS framework efficiently attacks models with sparse perturbations.
problem Efficiently attacking models with sparse perturbations in the black-box setting.
method Random search-based Sparse-RS framework for score-based attacks.
result Sparse-RS achieves state-of-the-art success rate and query efficiency.
Recent studies have shown that adversarial examples in state-of-the-art image classifiers trained by deep neural networks (DNN) can be easily generated when the target model is transparent to an attacker, known as the white-box setting. However, when attacking a deployed machine learning service, one can only acquire t…
Adapts example weights to optimize black-box metrics.
problem Optimizing metrics defined by black-box functions.
method Adaptive example weighting and iterative post-shifting.
result Improves classification performance compared to baselines.
New method optimizes BO by learning search spaces from past evaluations.
problem Optimizing expensive black-box functions efficiently.
method Automatically designs BO search space from historical data.
result Significant boost in BO performance by reducing search space size.
Adapts Bayesian optimization for mixed constraints in aircraft design.
problem Optimizing expensive black box functions with mixed constraints.
method Super efficient global optimization with upper trust bound for constraints, Gaussian process uncertainty, refinement procedure.
result Superior performance on aircraft design problem compared to state-of-the-art solvers.
IReEn reveals functionality of black-box agents via iterative neural synthesis.
problem Revealing the functionality of a black-box agent without privileged information.
method Iterative refinement of candidate programs using neural program synthesis.
result The approach finds a functional equivalent program in 78% of cases, outperforming state-of-the-art.
Square Attack efficiently attacks deep models with random updates.
problem Efficiently attacking deep learning models without gradient information.
method Randomized search of localized square updates.
result Significantly more query-efficient and higher success rate compared to state-of-the-art methods.
The lack of interpretability often makes black-box models difficult to be applied to many practical domains. For this reason, the current work, from the black-box model input port, proposes to incorporate data-based prior information into the black-box soft-margin SVM model to enhance its interpretability. The concept …
Deep neural networks (DNNs) are known for their vulnerability to adversarial examples. These are examples that have undergone small, carefully crafted perturbations, and which can easily fool a DNN into making misclassifications at test time. Thus far, the field of adversarial research has mainly focused on image model…
Paper proposes EMO-based AE generation for black-box settings.
problem Designing robust adversarial examples for black-box models.
method Evolutionary Multi-objective Optimization (EMO) for generating various types of adversarial examples.
result EMO-based method generates AEs that are robust and applicable to high-resolution images.
LA-MCTS learns search space partition for black-box optimization using Monte Carlo Tree Search.
problem High-dimensional black-box optimization challenges.
method LA-MCTS recursively splits search space into regions with high/low function values, learns nonlinear partition and local models online.
result LA-MCTS achieves strong performance in black-box optimization and reinforcement learning benchmarks, especially for high-dimensional problems.
Interpretable semi-supervised classifier for black-box models with two self-labeling strategies.
problem Lack of labeled data and difficulty in explaining black-box models.
method Combines black-box and white-box approaches for self-labeling and prediction.
result Superior prediction rates and interpretability compared to state-of-the-art classifiers.
Faced with distribution shift between training and test set, we wish to detect and quantify the shift, and to correct our classifiers without test set labels. Motivated by medical diagnosis, where diseases (targets) cause symptoms (observations), we focus on label shift, where the label marginal p(y) changes but the …
Optimizes target value in stochastic black box functions.
problem Finding input to minimize expected squared error to target value.
method Derives acquisition functions for expected improvement, probability of improvement, and lower confidence bound, assuming Gaussian aleatoric effects.
result Acquisition functions can outperform classical Bayesian optimization under certain conditions.
Proposes a new method to explain complex machine learning models.
problem Lack of joint feature effects in current explanation algorithms.
method Axiomatization of the Banzhaf index for capturing feature subsets.
result The generalized Banzhaf index optimally approximates black-box models.
New action poisoning attacks improve LinUCB's performance by changing action signals.
problem Improving understanding of adversarial attacks on contextual bandit algorithms.
method Proposed action poisoning attacks in white-box and black-box settings.
result Action poisoning attacks can force LinUCB to pull a target arm frequently with low cost.
Depending on how much information an adversary can access to, adversarial attacks can be classified as white-box attack and black-box attack. For white-box attack, optimization-based attack algorithms such as projected gradient descent (PGD) can achieve relatively high attack success rates within moderate iterates. How…
BAR reprograms black-box ML models for transfer learning with scarce data.
problem Transfer learning with limited data and resources.
method Zeroth-order optimization and multi-label mapping techniques to reprogram black-box models.
result BAR outperforms state-of-the-art methods and baseline transfer learning approaches.
RAAL optimizes black box function optimization with multifidelity models.
problem Time-consuming and unfeasible black box optimization.
method Resource Aware Multifidelity Active Learning (RAAL) for efficient optimization.
result RAAL optimizes black box function optimization with multifidelity models.
Many methods to explain black-box models, whether local or global, are additive. In this paper, we study global additive explanations for non-additive models, focusing on four explanation methods: partial dependence, Shapley explanations adapted to a global setting, distilled additive explanations, and gradient-based e…
AdvMind detects adversary intent in black-box attacks with high accuracy.
problem Detecting adversary intent in black-box adversarial attacks is challenging.
method AdvMind accounts for adversary adaptiveness and synthesizes queries to expose intent.
result AdvMind detects adversary intent with over 75% accuracy after observing less than 3 query batches.
New methods improve black-box adversarial attacks with fewer queries.
problem Efficiently craft adversarial examples without access to gradients.
method Prior-guided random gradient-free algorithms based on biased sampling and gradient averaging.
result Both methods require fewer queries and achieve higher success rates.
We investigate how an adversary can optimally use its query budget for targeted evasion attacks against deep neural networks in a black-box setting. We formalize the problem setting and systematically evaluate what benefits the adversary can gain by using substitute models. We show that there is an exploration-exploita…
Deep-PrAE improves rare-event simulation for black-box systems.
problem Evaluating rare safety-critical events in learning-based systems.
method Combines deep neural networks with IS to create statistically guaranteed estimations.
result Deep-PrAE provides accurate bounds on safety-critical event probabilities.