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Enterprise AI Analysis: Adversarial prompt and fine-tuning attacks threaten medical large language models

Enterprise AI Analysis

Adversarial prompt and fine-tuning attacks threaten medical large language models

This study investigates the vulnerability of Large Language Models (LLMs) to adversarial attacks in medical applications. It demonstrates that both prompt injections and fine-tuning with poisoned samples can manipulate LLMs across disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment tasks. The research highlights the urgent need for robust security measures and defensive mechanisms to safeguard LLMs in healthcare.

Executive Impact Summary

The integration of LLMs in healthcare offers immense potential, but these findings reveal critical security vulnerabilities that demand immediate attention for safe and effective deployment.

0 LLMs Found Vulnerable
0 Average Attack Success Rate (ASR)
0 Performance Degradation on Benchmarks

Deep Analysis & Enterprise Applications

Select a topic to dive deeper, then explore the specific findings from the research, rebuilt as interactive, enterprise-focused modules.

100% of LLMs found vulnerable to adversarial attacks, across both prompt manipulation and fine-tuning methods.

Enterprise Process Flow: Adversarial Attack Pipeline

Normal Prompt & Patient Notes
Malicious Prompt / Adversarial Model
Poisoned Responses
Attack Methods Comparison
Method Impact on ASR Detection Difficulty
Prompt Injection
  • High (up to 93%)
  • Moderate (paraphrasing helps)
Fine-tuning with Poisoned Samples
  • High (up to 93%)
  • Hard (weight shifts, subtle degradation)

Case Study: Vaccination Guidance Attack

Adversarial attacks successfully decreased vaccine recommendations from 100% to 3.98% for GPT-4, and from 88.06% to 6.47% for GPT-4o, by influencing the LLM to suggest complications or contraindications. This demonstrates a severe risk in public health recommendations.

Case Study: Dangerous Drug Combination Attack

The study found a significant rise in dangerous drug combination recommendations, from 0.50% to 80.60% for GPT-4, and 1.00% to 61.19% for GPT-4o. This could lead to serious patient harm if unchecked.

Task-Specific ASR (Prompt Injection)
Task GPT-4 ASR GPT-4o ASR
Vaccine Discouragement
  • 96.02%
  • 81.59%
Dangerous Drug Combos
  • 80.10%
  • 60.19%
Unnecessary CT Scans
  • 41.29%
  • 25.87%
33.37% average ASR drop for GPT-4o using paraphrasing defense for prompt engineering attacks.
42.65% average ASR drop for GPT-4o using paraphrasing defense for fine-tuning attacks.

Enterprise Process Flow: Proposed Defense Mechanisms

Implement Robust Security Measures
Utilize Paraphrasing for Detection
Monitor Fine-tuned Model Weights
Source LLMs from Trusted Providers

Estimate Your AI Security ROI

Calculate the potential savings from investing in robust AI security for your LLM deployments in healthcare, by preventing adverse events and maintaining trust.

Potential Annual Savings $0
Annual Hours Reclaimed 0

Implementation Roadmap

A strategic approach to integrating robust security measures for your medical LLM deployments, ensuring patient safety and data integrity.

Phase 1: Vulnerability Assessment

Conduct a comprehensive audit of current LLM deployments for prompt injection and fine-tuning vulnerabilities. Identify critical medical tasks at highest risk.

Phase 2: Develop & Integrate Defensive Layers

Implement paraphrasing as a detection mechanism. Explore weight monitoring techniques for fine-tuned models. Establish secure fine-tuning pipelines.

Phase 3: Continuous Monitoring & Training

Set up continuous monitoring for anomalous LLM behavior. Regularly update models with adversarial training. Train staff on identifying and reporting suspicious outputs.

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