{"id":"https://openalex.org/W4408565892","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tifs.2025.3550062","title":"Mutual Information Guided Backdoor Mitigation for Pre-Trained Encoders","display_name":"Mutual Information Guided Backdoor Mitigation for Pre-Trained Encoders","publication_year":2025,"publication_date":"2025-01-01","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W4408565892","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tifs.2025.3550062"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1109/tifs.2025.3550062","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tifs.2025.3550062","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S61310614","display_name":"IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security","issn_l":"1556-6013","issn":["1556-6013","1556-6021"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319808","host_organization_name":"Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":false,"oa_status":"closed","oa_url":null,"any_repository_has_fulltext":false},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5021206073","display_name":"Tingxu Han","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1821-611X"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I881766915","display_name":"Nanjing University","ror":"https://ror.org/01rxvg760","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I881766915"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Tingxu Han","raw_affiliation_strings":["State Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1821-611X","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"State Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I881766915"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5013856385","display_name":"Weisong Sun","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9236-8264"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I172675005","display_name":"Nanyang Technological University","ror":"https://ror.org/02e7b5302","country_code":"SG","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I172675005"]}],"countries":["SG"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Weisong Sun","raw_affiliation_strings":["College of Computing and Data Science, Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang, Singapore, Singapore","Nanyang, Nanyang Technological University, School of Computer Science and Engineering, Singapore"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9236-8264","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"College of Computing and Data Science, Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang, Singapore, Singapore","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I172675005"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"Nanyang, Nanyang Technological University, School of Computer Science and Engineering, Singapore","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I172675005"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":null,"display_name":"Ziqi Ding","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8336-7516"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I31746571","display_name":"UNSW Sydney","ror":"https://ror.org/03r8z3t63","country_code":"AU","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I31746571"]}],"countries":["AU"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Ziqi Ding","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, Australia","School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, New South Wales, Australia"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8336-7516","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, Australia","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I31746571"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, New South Wales, Australia","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I31746571"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5075174750","display_name":"Chunrong Fang","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9930-7111"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I881766915","display_name":"Nanjing University","ror":"https://ror.org/01rxvg760","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I881766915"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Chunrong Fang","raw_affiliation_strings":["State Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9930-7111","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"State Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I881766915"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5039218735","display_name":"Hanwei Qian","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9524-1411"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I881766915","display_name":"Nanjing University","ror":"https://ror.org/01rxvg760","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I881766915"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Hanwei Qian","raw_affiliation_strings":["State Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9524-1411","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"State Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I881766915"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":null,"display_name":"Jiaxun Li","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8267-8968"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I3923682","display_name":"Soochow University","ror":"https://ror.org/05t8y2r12","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I3923682"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Jiaxun Li","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Mathematical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8267-8968","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Mathematical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I3923682"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5100422935","display_name":"Zhenyu Chen","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9592-7022"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I881766915","display_name":"Nanjing University","ror":"https://ror.org/01rxvg760","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I881766915"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Zhenyu Chen","raw_affiliation_strings":["State Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology and Shenzhen Research Institute, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China","State Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9592-7022","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"State Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology and Shenzhen Research Institute, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I881766915"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"State Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I881766915"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5107249133","display_name":"Xiangyu Zhang","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9544-2500"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I219193219","display_name":"Purdue University West Lafayette","ror":"https://ror.org/02dqehb95","country_code":"US","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I219193219"]}],"countries":["US"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Xiangyu Zhang","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Computer Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA","School of Computer Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9544-2500","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computer Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I219193219"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Computer Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I219193219"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":4,"institutions_distinct_count":5,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":9.5567,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":8,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.97573301,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":true},"cited_by_percentile_year":{"min":98,"max":99},"biblio":{"volume":"20","issue":null,"first_page":"3414","last_page":"3428"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11689","display_name":"Adversarial Robustness in Machine Learning","score":0.9557999968528748,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11689","display_name":"Adversarial Robustness in Machine Learning","score":0.9557999968528748,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12810","display_name":"Real-time simulation and control systems","score":0.9549999833106995,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2207","display_name":"Control and Systems Engineering"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/22","display_name":"Engineering"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10876","display_name":"Fault Detection and Control Systems","score":0.9333999752998352,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/2207","display_name":"Control and Systems Engineering"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/22","display_name":"Engineering"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/backdoor","display_name":"Backdoor","score":0.875177800655365},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-science","display_name":"Computer science","score":0.7860456705093384},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/encoder","display_name":"Encoder","score":0.4984288215637207},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/mutual-information","display_name":"Mutual information","score":0.4946708381175995},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/artificial-intelligence","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","score":0.39382457733154297},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-security","display_name":"Computer security","score":0.3691500723361969}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2781045450","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q254569","display_name":"Backdoor","level":2,"score":0.875177800655365},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.7860456705093384},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C118505674","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q42586063","display_name":"Encoder","level":2,"score":0.4984288215637207},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C152139883","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q252973","display_name":"Mutual information","level":2,"score":0.4946708381175995},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.39382457733154297},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C38652104","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3510521","display_name":"Computer security","level":1,"score":0.3691500723361969},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C111919701","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9135","display_name":"Operating system","level":1,"score":0.0}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":2,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1109/tifs.2025.3550062","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tifs.2025.3550062","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S61310614","display_name":"IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security","issn_l":"1556-6013","issn":["1556-6013","1556-6021"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319808","host_organization_name":"Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security","raw_type":"journal-article"},{"id":"pmh:oai:dr.ntu.edu.sg:10356/217817","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/10356/217817","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306402609","display_name":"DR-NTU (Nanyang Technological University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I172675005","host_organization_name":"Nanyang Technological University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I172675005"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Journal Article"}],"best_oa_location":null,"sustainable_development_goals":[{"display_name":"Climate action","score":0.6700000166893005,"id":"https://metadata.un.org/sdg/13"}],"awards":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/G3894403112","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"14380029","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320335787","funder_display_name":"Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/G8287377286","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"U24A20337","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321001","funder_display_name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/G8662163125","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"62372228","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321001","funder_display_name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/G948224718","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"AISG2-GC-2023-008","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320320671","funder_display_name":"National Research Foundation"}],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320320671","display_name":"National Research Foundation","ror":"https://ror.org/05s0g1g46"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321001","display_name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","ror":"https://ror.org/01h0zpd94"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320335787","display_name":"Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities","ror":null}],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":false,"pdf":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":54,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W343636949","https://openalex.org/W1821462560","https://openalex.org/W2001610032","https://openalex.org/W2067713319","https://openalex.org/W2138621090","https://openalex.org/W2194775991","https://openalex.org/W2560647685","https://openalex.org/W2807363941","https://openalex.org/W2934843808","https://openalex.org/W2950306824","https://openalex.org/W2962858109","https://openalex.org/W2964082701","https://openalex.org/W3035524453","https://openalex.org/W3042368254","https://openalex.org/W3114632476","https://openalex.org/W3170224286","https://openalex.org/W3189812816","https://openalex.org/W4288057740","https://openalex.org/W4288057770","https://openalex.org/W4291023040","https://openalex.org/W4312768002","https://openalex.org/W4322760473","https://openalex.org/W4385990902","https://openalex.org/W4386066154","https://openalex.org/W4386072179","https://openalex.org/W6674924502","https://openalex.org/W6677919164","https://openalex.org/W6730179637","https://openalex.org/W6738597727","https://openalex.org/W6743581629","https://openalex.org/W6743986261","https://openalex.org/W6752051073","https://openalex.org/W6754278344","https://openalex.org/W6766253520","https://openalex.org/W6780006332","https://openalex.org/W6784339589","https://openalex.org/W6787972765","https://openalex.org/W6788876066","https://openalex.org/W6789730115","https://openalex.org/W6791353385","https://openalex.org/W6795961950","https://openalex.org/W6800751262","https://openalex.org/W6801793958","https://openalex.org/W6803329306","https://openalex.org/W6804292721","https://openalex.org/W6809890637","https://openalex.org/W6840331315","https://openalex.org/W6844194202","https://openalex.org/W6846810734","https://openalex.org/W6851321561","https://openalex.org/W6852894864","https://openalex.org/W6853525784","https://openalex.org/W6862484556","https://openalex.org/W6869369774"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W4320031223","https://openalex.org/W4200629851","https://openalex.org/W4281902577","https://openalex.org/W4309417370","https://openalex.org/W4292107232","https://openalex.org/W3009072493","https://openalex.org/W4386080799","https://openalex.org/W3140988292","https://openalex.org/W4317672133","https://openalex.org/W4401407399"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Self-supervised":[0],"learning":[1],"(SSL)":[2],"is":[3,56,166,230,246],"increasingly":[4],"attractive":[5],"for":[6,49,98],"pre-training":[7,227],"encoders":[8,21,29],"without":[9],"requiring":[10],"labeled":[11],"data.":[12],"Downstream":[13],"tasks":[14],"built":[15],"on":[16,205],"top":[17],"of":[18,69,225,244],"those":[19],"pre-trained":[20,28,63,79,99],"can":[22,214],"achieve":[23],"nearly":[24],"state-of-the-art":[25,237],"performance.":[26],"The":[27,241],"by":[30,40,221],"SSL,":[31],"however,":[32],"are":[33,47],"vulnerable":[34],"to":[35,62,66,115,153,168,174,191,232],"backdoor":[36,44,76,91,207,238],"attacks":[37,77,208],"as":[38,107],"demonstrated":[39],"existing":[41,125],"studies.":[42],"Numerous":[43],"mitigation":[45,92,239],"techniques":[46],"designed":[48],"downstream":[50],"task":[51],"models.":[52],"However,":[53],"their":[54],"effectiveness":[55],"impaired":[57],"and":[58,111,150,187,194],"limited":[59],"when":[60,72],"adapted":[61],"encoders,":[64,80],"due":[65],"the":[67,103,108,131,160,178,199,217,233],"lack":[68],"label":[70],"information":[71,89,146],"pre-training.":[73],"To":[74],"address":[75],"against":[78],"in":[81,159,209],"this":[82],"paper,":[83],"we":[84],"innovatively":[85],"propose":[86],"a":[87,117],"mutual":[88,145],"guided":[90,96],"technique,":[93],"named":[94],"MIMIC(MutualInformation":[95],"backdoorMItigation":[97],"enCoders).":[100],"MIMIC":[101,129,143,213,245],"uses":[102],"potentially":[104],"backdoored":[105],"encoder":[106,120,196],"teacher":[109,140,161,173],"network":[110],"applies":[112],"knowledge":[113,126,157],"distillation":[114,127,165,179],"create":[116],"clean":[118,170,226],"student":[119,132],"from":[121,124,139,172],"it.":[122],"Different":[123],"approaches,":[128],"initializes":[130],"with":[133,163,181],"random":[134],"weights,":[135],"inheriting":[136],"no":[137],"backdoors":[138,193],"nets.":[141],"Then":[142],"leverages":[144],"between":[147],"each":[148],"layer":[149],"extracted":[151],"features":[152,171],"locate":[154],"where":[155],"benign":[156],"lies":[158],"net,":[162],"which":[164],"deployed":[167],"clone":[169,185],"student.":[175],"We":[176],"craft":[177],"loss":[180,186],"two":[182,206],"aspects,":[183],"including":[184],"attention":[188],"loss,":[189],"aiming":[190],"mitigate":[192],"maintain":[195],"performance":[197],"at":[198],"same":[200],"time.":[201],"Our":[202],"evaluation":[203],"conducted":[204],"SSL":[210],"demonstrates":[211],"that":[212,229],"significantly":[215],"reduce":[216],"attack":[218],"success":[219],"rate":[220],"only":[222],"utilizing$\\leq":[223],"5$%":[224],"data":[228],"accessible":[231],"defender,":[234],"surpassing":[235],"seven":[236],"techniques.":[240],"source":[242],"code":[243],"available":[247],"athttps://github.com/wssun/MIMIC.":[248]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2026,"cited_by_count":3},{"year":2025,"cited_by_count":5}],"updated_date":"2026-08-06T08:24:18.245995","created_date":"2025-10-10T00:00:00"}