Disrupting Audio Event Detection Deep Neural Networks with White Noise

Audio event detection (AED) systems can leverage the power of specialized algorithms for detecting the presence of a specific sound of interest within audio captured from the environment. More recent approaches rely on deep learning algorithms, such as convolutional neural networks and convolutional recurrent neural networks. Given these conditions, it is important to assess how vulnerable these systems can be to attacks. As such, we develop AED-suited convolutional neural networks and convolutional recurrent neural networks, and attack them next with white noise disturbances, conceived to be simple and straightforward to be implemented and employed, even by non-tech savvy attackers. We develop this work under a safety-oriented scenario (AED systems for safety-related sounds, such as gunshots), and we show that an attacker can use such disturbances to avoid detection by up to 100 percent success. Prior work has shown that attackers can mislead image classification tasks; however, this work focuses on attacks against AED systems by tampering with their audio rather than image components. This work brings awareness to the designers and manufacturers of AED systems, as these solutions are vulnerable, yet may be trusted by individuals and families.