GroupGuard: A Framework for Modeling and Defending Collusive Attacks in Multi-Agent Systems

Abstract

While large language model-based agents demonstrate great potential in collaborative tasks, their interactivity also introduces security vulnerabilities. In this paper, we propose and model group collusive attacks, a highly destructive threat in which multiple agents coordinate via sociological strategies to mislead the system. To address this challenge, we introduce GroupGuard, a training-free defense framework that employs a multi-layered defense strategy, including continuous graph-based monitoring, active honeypot inducement, and structural pruning, to identify and isolate collusive agents. Experimental results across five datasets and four topologies demonstrate that group collusive attacks increase the attack success rate by up to 15\% compared to individual attacks. GroupGuard consistently achieves high detection accuracy (up to 88\%) and effectively restores collaborative performance, providing a robust solution for securing multi-agent systems.