Efficient Single Secret Image Sharing in Resource-Constrained Environment using Counting-Based Secret Sharing over Cloud

Abstract

This paper presents a novel approach for secure and efficient single-secret image sharing in a resource-constrained environment. Traditional secret-sharing techniques are effective but often resource-intensive, making them less practical in scenarios with limited computational resources and storage overhead. While counting-based Secret-Sharing (CBSS) Schemes have been developed for numeric data, there has been a lack of schemes designed specifically for multimedia images. In response to this gap, our proposed model introduces a single-image sharing scheme based on bit permutation and counting bit operations, distributed over a cloud network. The key components of the proposed scheme include the group generation process, share generation and distribution, and secret reconstruction. In the group generation process, the secret image undergoes bit permutation to generate intermediate shares, which are then grouped into sets. Share generation involves performing counting bit operations on these groups to generate individual shares, which are subsequently distributed over a cloud server. The secret image can be reconstructed by combining all the shares and applying counting bit operations. The experimental findings illustrate that the proposed approach generates almost random shares. An assessment of the scheme's performance, utilizing metrics such as correlation, RMSE, and PSNR, indicates its superior results. The limitation of the scheme is that fewer than the required n shares may reveal the secret information.