Pareto Adversarial Robustness: Balancing Spatial Robustness and Sensitivity-based Robustness

Abstract

Adversarial robustness, which primarily comprises sensitivity-based robustness and spatial robustness, plays an integral part in achieving robust generalization. In this paper, we endeavor to design strategies to achieve universal adversarial robustness. To achieve this, we first investigate the relatively less-explored realm of spatial robustness. Then, we integrate the existing spatial robustness methods by incorporating both local and global spatial vulnerability into a unified spatial attack and adversarial training approach. Furthermore, we present a comprehensive relationship between natural accuracy, sensitivity-based robustness, and spatial robustness, supported by strong evidence from the perspective of robust representation. Crucially, to reconcile the interplay between the mutual impacts of various robustness components into one unified framework, we incorporate the \textit{Pareto criterion} into the adversarial robustness analysis, yielding a novel strategy called Pareto Adversarial Training for achieving universal robustness. The resulting Pareto front, which delineates the set of optimal solutions, provides an optimal balance between natural accuracy and various adversarial robustness. This sheds light on solutions for achieving universal robustness in the future. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to consider universal adversarial robustness via multi-objective optimization.