Fragile Model Watermarking: A Comprehensive Survey of Evolution, Characteristics, and Classification

Model fragile watermarking, inspired by both the field of adversarial attacks on neural networks and traditional multimedia fragile watermarking, has gradually emerged as a potent tool for detecting tampering, and has witnessed rapid development in recent years. Unlike robust watermarks, which are widely used for identifying model copyrights, fragile watermarks for models are designed to identify whether models have been subjected to unexpected alterations such as backdoors, poisoning, compression, among others. These alterations can pose unknown risks to model users, such as misidentifying stop signs as speed limit signs in classic autonomous driving scenarios. This paper provides an overview of the relevant work in the field of model fragile watermarking since its inception, categorizing them and revealing the developmental trajectory of the field, thus offering a comprehensive survey for future endeavors in model fragile watermarking.