PhD Position F/M Data Injection Attacks in Supervised Machine Learning Systems
Contract type : Fixed-term contract
Level of qualifications required : Graduate degree or equivalent
Fonction : PhD Position
About the research centre or Inria department
The Inria Université Côte d'Azur center counts 37 research teams as well as 8 support services. The center's staff (about 500 people) is made up of scientists of different nationalities, engineers, technicians and administrative staff. The majority of the center's research teams are located in Sophia Antipolis and five of them are based in an Inria antenna in Montpellier. The Inria branch in Montpellier is growing in size, in accordance with the strategy described in the institution's Contract of Objectives and Performance (COP).
Context
This PhD position is funded by the French Ministry of Defense via the "agence de l'innovation de défense (AID)", which gives the final word on the acceptance of the candidate. This position is exclusive for holders of a European, UK, or Swiss nationality.
The PhD candidate is hosted by INRIA at Sophia Antipolis. The PhD degree is granted by the Université Côte d'Azur (UniCA) and it develops within a close collaboration between INRIA, Princeton University, and the University of Sheffield. The position is jointly supervised by Samir M. Perlaza (Inria) and Iñaki Esnaola (University of Sheffield, UK). Research stays in the University of Sheffield and Princeton University might be envisioned.
Assignment
Recently, we have introduced the notion of worst-case data-generating (WCDG) probability measure [1, 2], which has been a key instrument to the study of generalization capabilities of machine learning algorithms [3]. We have come to the conclusion that this work has set a fruitful mathematical theory that has already let to important results: (i) An analytical characterization of the generalization error of machine learning algorithms; and (ii) The identification of the Gibbs algorithm as an instrument for the characterization of the generalization capabilities of any machine learning algorithm. The advantages of pairing any algorithm with a particular Gibbs algorithm is that, the latter is well understood and known to have mathematical properties that ease the analysis of generalization [4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9].
The WCDG probability measure also models data-injection attacks to machine learning systems that are the most difficult to detect. Essentially, the WCDG probability measure describes the probability distribution of datasets after a malicious modification aiming at tampering with the model selection. Such a malicious intervention on the datasets is said to be difficult to detect because the WCDG probability measure is sufficiently close to the original distributions of the datasets. Interestingly, how close the WCDG probability measure is to the original measure is quantified via relative entropy (or Kullback-Leibler divergence) via a parameter, which remains part of the design.
REFERENCES
[1] X. Zou, S. M. Perlaza, I. Esnaola, and E. Altman, “Generalization analysis of machine learning algorithms via the worst-case data-generating probability measure,” in Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Vancouver, Canada, Feb. 2024.
[2] ——, “The worst-case data-generating probability measure,” INRIA, Centre Inria d’Universit´e Cˆote d’Azur, Sophia Antipolis, France, Tech. Rep. RR-9515, Aug. 2023.
[3] X. Zou, S. M. Perlaza, I. Esnaola, E. Altman, and H. V. Poor, “An exact characterization of the generalization error of machine learning algorithms,” INRIA, Centre Inria d’Universit´e Cˆote d’Azur, Sophia Antipolis, France, Tech. Rep. RR-9539, Jan. 2024.
[4] S. M. Perlaza, G. Bisson, I. Esnaola, A. Jean-Marie, and S. Rini, “Empirical risk minimization with relative entropy regularization: Optimality and sensitivity,” in Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT), Espoo, Finland, Jul. 2022, pp. 684–689.
[5] F. Daunas, I. Esnaola, S. M. Perlaza, and H. V. Poor, “Analysis of the relative entropy asymmetry in the regularization of empirical risk minimization,” in Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT), Taipei, Taiwan, Jun. 2023.
[6] S. M. Perlaza, I. Esnaola, G. Bisson, and H. V. Poor, “On the validation of Gibbs algorithms: Training datasets, test datasets and their aggregation,” in Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT), Taipei, Taiwan, Jun. 2023.
[7] S. M. Perlaza, G. Bisson, I. Esnaola, A. Jean-Marie, and S. Rini, “Empirical risk minimization with generalized relative entropy regularization,” INRIA, Centre Inria d’Universit´e Cˆote d’Azur, Sophia Antipolis, France, Tech. Rep. RR-9454, Feb. 2022.
[8] F. Daunas, I. Esnaola, S. M. Perlaza, and H. V. Poor, “Empirical risk minimization with relative entropy regularization type-II,” INRIA, Centre Inria d’Universit´e Cˆote d’Azur, Sophia Antipolis, France, Tech. Rep. RR-9508, May. 2023.
[9] ——, “Empirical risk minimization with f-divergence regularization in statistical learning,” INRIA, Centre Inria d’Universit´e Cˆote d’Azur, Sophia Antipolis, France, Tech. Rep. RR-9521, Oct. 2023.
Main activities
The objectives of this thesis are the following.
• To characterize the fundamental trade-off between generalization error and detection probability that governs data-injection attacks onto supervised machine learning systems;
• To identify algorithm design guidelines that increase the robustness of machine learning algorithms to data-injection attacks, e.g., conditions on the minimum sample size, assumptions on the sets of labeled patterns, etc.; and
• To construct prototypes of algorithms over which data-injection attacks can be implemented in a controlled manner such that the above fundamental limits can be studied in specific practical cases.
Benefits package
- Subsidized meals
- Leave: 7 weeks of annual leave + 10 extra days off due to RTT (statutory reduction in working hours) + possibility of exceptional leave (sick children, moving home, etc.)
- Possibility of teleworking and flexible organization of working hours
- Social, cultural and sports events and activities
- Access to vocational training
- Contribution to mutual insurance (subject to condition)
Remuneration
Gross Salary per month: 2010€ brut per month (year 1 & 2) and 2190€ brut per month (year 3)
General Information
- Theme/Domain :
Optimization, machine learning and statistical methods
Information system (BAP E) - Town/city : Sophia Antipolis
- Inria Center : Centre Inria d'Université Côte d'Azur
- Starting date : 2024-09-01
- Duration of contract : 3 years
- Deadline to apply : 2024-04-28
Warning : you must enter your e-mail address in order to save your application to Inria. Applications must be submitted online on the Inria website. Processing of applications sent from other channels is not guaranteed.
Instruction to apply
Defence Security :
This position is likely to be situated in a restricted area (ZRR), as defined in Decree No. 2011-1425 relating to the protection of national scientific and technical potential (PPST).Authorisation to enter an area is granted by the director of the unit, following a favourable Ministerial decision, as defined in the decree of 3 July 2012 relating to the PPST. An unfavourable Ministerial decision in respect of a position situated in a ZRR would result in the cancellation of the appointment.
Recruitment Policy :
As part of its diversity policy, all Inria positions are accessible to people with disabilities.
Contacts
- Inria Team : NEO
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PhD Supervisor :
Medina Perlaza Samir / samir.perlaza@inria.fr
The keys to success
Candidates are expected to have a strong background in mathematics. Previous knowledge on information theory, and game theory is desirable. Abilities in algorithm design and computer programming are also essential. The candidate must have a provable level of written and spoken english. Skills in french language are not required.
About Inria
Inria is the French national research institute dedicated to digital science and technology. It employs 2,600 people. Its 200 agile project teams, generally run jointly with academic partners, include more than 3,500 scientists and engineers working to meet the challenges of digital technology, often at the interface with other disciplines. The Institute also employs numerous talents in over forty different professions. 900 research support staff contribute to the preparation and development of scientific and entrepreneurial projects that have a worldwide impact.