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

Zhang, Xiao; Wu, Dongrui; Ding, Lieyun; Luo, Hanbin; Lin, Chin-Teng; Jung, Tzyy-Ping; Chavarriaga, Ricardo

doi:10.1093/nsr/nwaa233

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-20507

Publication type:	Article in scientific journal
Type of review:	Peer review (publication)
Title:	Tiny noise, big mistakes : adversarial perturbations induce errors in brain-computer interface spellers
Authors:	Zhang, Xiao Wu, Dongrui Ding, Lieyun Luo, Hanbin Lin, Chin-Teng Jung, Tzyy-Ping Chavarriaga, Ricardo
et. al:	No
DOI:	10.1093/nsr/nwaa233 10.21256/zhaw-20507
Published in:	National Science Review
Issue Date:	30-Jan-2020
Publisher / Ed. Institution:	Oxford University Press
ISSN:	2095-5138 2053-714X
Language:	English
Subjects:	Human-Computer Interaction; Computer Science; Learning
Subject (DDC):	004: Computer science
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.
URI:	https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/20507
Fulltext version:	Published version
License (according to publishing contract):	CC BY 4.0: Attribution 4.0 International
Departement:	School of Engineering
Organisational Unit:	Institute of Computer Science (InIT)
Appears in collections:	Publikationen School of Engineering

Files in This Item:

File	Description	Size	Format
2020_Zhang_Tiny_noise_big_mistakes_National_Science_Review.pdf	Accepted Version	4.45 MB	Adobe PDF	View/Open
2021_Zhang-etal_Tiny-noise-big-mistakes.pdf		1.81 MB	Adobe PDF	View/Open

Show full item record

Zhang, X., Wu, D., Ding, L., Luo, H., Lin, C.-T., Jung, T.-P., & Chavarriaga, R. (2020). Tiny noise, big mistakes : adversarial perturbations induce errors in brain-computer interface spellers. National Science Review. https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwaa233

Zhang, X. et al. (2020) ‘Tiny noise, big mistakes : adversarial perturbations induce errors in brain-computer interface spellers’, National Science Review [Preprint]. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwaa233.

X. Zhang et al., “Tiny noise, big mistakes : adversarial perturbations induce errors in brain-computer interface spellers,” National Science Review, Jan. 2020, doi: 10.1093/nsr/nwaa233.

ZHANG, Xiao, Dongrui WU, Lieyun DING, Hanbin LUO, Chin-Teng LIN, Tzyy-Ping JUNG und Ricardo CHAVARRIAGA, 2020. Tiny noise, big mistakes : adversarial perturbations induce errors in brain-computer interface spellers. National Science Review. 30 Januar 2020. DOI 10.1093/nsr/nwaa233

Zhang, Xiao, Dongrui Wu, Lieyun Ding, Hanbin Luo, Chin-Teng Lin, Tzyy-Ping Jung, and Ricardo Chavarriaga. 2020. “Tiny Noise, Big Mistakes : Adversarial Perturbations Induce Errors in Brain-Computer Interface Spellers.” National Science Review, January. https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwaa233.

Zhang, Xiao, et al. “Tiny Noise, Big Mistakes : Adversarial Perturbations Induce Errors in Brain-Computer Interface Spellers.” National Science Review, Jan. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwaa233.