Agenda

PhD defense Lijun Chi: Security and Robustness of Autonomous Driving Systems Against Physical Adversarial Attack

Thursday February 13, 2025, at 10.00 (Paris time) at Télécom Paris

Télécom Paris, 19 place Marguerite Perey F-91120 Palaiseau [getting there], amphi 2 and in videoconferencing

Jury

  • Mr. Sébastien Tixeuil, Professor, Sorbonne Université (LIP6), France (Reviewer)
  • Mr. Albert Bifet, Professor, Télécom Paris, France/Waikato University, New Zealand (Examiner)
  • Mr. Shutao Xia, Professor, Shenzhen International Graduate School of Tsinghua University, China (Examiner)
  • Mr. Tianwei Zhang, Associate Professor, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (Examiner)
  • Mrs. Mounira Msahli, Associate Professor, Télécom Paris (LTCI), France (Thesis co-director)
  • Mr. Han Qiu, Associate Professor, Tsinghua University, China (Thesis co-director)
  • Mr. Gérard Memmi, Professor, Télécom Paris (LTCI), France ((Thesis director)

Abstract

Autonomous Driving Systems (ADS) represent a revolutionary advancement in transportation and offer unprecedented safety and convenience. Real-world physical attacks are emphasized because Autonomous Driving Systems (ADS) depend heavily on sensors and perception modules to detect and interpret their surroundings, making security a critical concern. In addition, the diversity of physical attacks makes it difficult for passive defenders.

A comprehensive analysis is essential...
… for understanding attack trends, evolution, and defense directions. This thesis addresses these challenges by analyzing, evaluating, and developing practical strategies to improve the robustness of ADS. It begins with a review of recent physical adversarial attacks that identifies specific threats to ADSs. It then introduces a novel public attention-based black-box attack that demonstrates how an attacker can exploit ADS awareness without full knowledge of the system, highlighting the need for enhanced defenses. Next, detection framework, Laser Guard, is proposed for real-time laser-based attack. Additionally, a defense mechanism called Laser Shield is developed, using polarizers to block harmful laser signals and enhance ADS security.