A verifiable multi-secret image sharing scheme using XOR operation and hash function

Abstract

In a secret image sharing (SIS) scheme, a dealer (the data owner or a trusted third-party) encodes a secret image into some share images and distributes them among some participants such that each participant receives exactly one share. Most of the secret image sharing schemes assume a trusted dealer and participants. They do not use any verification of the share images while they are presented for secret reconstruction. In this article, we propose a verifiable multi-secret image sharing scheme using Boolean operations and a secure hash function. We consider n secret images for sharing and convert each secret image to a complete noisy image by using a secure hash function, XOR operations, and a specially designed pseudo-random image-matrix generator function. Then, we use XOR operations to generate the share images. The hash function calls are chained in a unique way to enable reconstruction and verification at a low cost for the secret images. The use of hash function also ensures that secrecy of share images and secret images remains consistent. The experimental results and security analysis prove that the scheme is secure and verifiable.