DSBA: Dynamic Stealthy Backdoor Attack with Collaborative Optimization in Self-Supervised Learning

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Wang, Jiayao, Hasan, Mohammad Maruf, Zhang, Yiping, Lei, Xiaoying, Zhang, Jiale, Wu, Qilin, Zhu, Junwu, Zhao, Dongfang
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Wang, Jiayao
Hasan, Mohammad Maruf
Zhang, Yiping
Lei, Xiaoying
Zhang, Jiale
Wu, Qilin
Zhu, Junwu
Zhao, Dongfang
author_facet Wang, Jiayao
Hasan, Mohammad Maruf
Zhang, Yiping
Lei, Xiaoying
Zhang, Jiale
Wu, Qilin
Zhu, Junwu
Zhao, Dongfang
contents Self-Supervised Learning (SSL) has emerged as a significant paradigm in representation learning thanks to its ability to learn without extensive labeled data, its strong generalization capabilities, and its potential for privacy preservation. However, recent research reveals that SSL models are also vulnerable to backdoor attacks. Existing backdoor attack methods in the SSL context commonly suffer from issues such as high detectability of triggers, feature entanglement, and pronounced out-of-distribution properties in poisoned samples, all of which compromises attack effectiveness and stealthiness. To that, we propose a Dynamic Stealthy Backdoor Attack (DSBA) backed by a new technique we term Collaborative Optimization. This method decouples the attack process into two collaborative optimization layers: the outer-layer optimization trains a backdoor encoder responsible for global feature space remodeling, aiming to achieve precise backdoor implantation while preserving core functionality; meanwhile, the inner-layer optimization employs a dynamically optimized generator to adaptively produce optimally concealed triggers for individual samples, achieving coordinated concealment across feature space and visual space. We also introduce multiple loss functions to dynamically balance attack performance and stealthiness, in which we employ an adaptive weight scheduling mechanism to enhance training stability. Extensive experiments on various mainstream SSL algorithms and five public datasets demonstrate that: (i) DSBA significantly enhances Attack Success Rate (ASR) and stealthiness while maintaining downstream task accuracy; and (ii) DSBA exhibits superior robustness against existing mainstream defense methods.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_02849
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle DSBA: Dynamic Stealthy Backdoor Attack with Collaborative Optimization in Self-Supervised Learning
Wang, Jiayao
Hasan, Mohammad Maruf
Zhang, Yiping
Lei, Xiaoying
Zhang, Jiale
Wu, Qilin
Zhu, Junwu
Zhao, Dongfang
Cryptography and Security
Self-Supervised Learning (SSL) has emerged as a significant paradigm in representation learning thanks to its ability to learn without extensive labeled data, its strong generalization capabilities, and its potential for privacy preservation. However, recent research reveals that SSL models are also vulnerable to backdoor attacks. Existing backdoor attack methods in the SSL context commonly suffer from issues such as high detectability of triggers, feature entanglement, and pronounced out-of-distribution properties in poisoned samples, all of which compromises attack effectiveness and stealthiness. To that, we propose a Dynamic Stealthy Backdoor Attack (DSBA) backed by a new technique we term Collaborative Optimization. This method decouples the attack process into two collaborative optimization layers: the outer-layer optimization trains a backdoor encoder responsible for global feature space remodeling, aiming to achieve precise backdoor implantation while preserving core functionality; meanwhile, the inner-layer optimization employs a dynamically optimized generator to adaptively produce optimally concealed triggers for individual samples, achieving coordinated concealment across feature space and visual space. We also introduce multiple loss functions to dynamically balance attack performance and stealthiness, in which we employ an adaptive weight scheduling mechanism to enhance training stability. Extensive experiments on various mainstream SSL algorithms and five public datasets demonstrate that: (i) DSBA significantly enhances Attack Success Rate (ASR) and stealthiness while maintaining downstream task accuracy; and (ii) DSBA exhibits superior robustness against existing mainstream defense methods.
title DSBA: Dynamic Stealthy Backdoor Attack with Collaborative Optimization in Self-Supervised Learning
topic Cryptography and Security
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.02849