Image Authentication Scheme for Resisting JPEG, JPEG2000 Compression and Scaling

Abstract

This paper presents a secure and simple content-based digital signature method for verifying the image authentication under JPEG, JPEG2000 compression and scaling based on a novel concept named lowest authenticable difference (LAD). The whole method, which is extended from the crypto-based digital signature scheme, mainly consists of statistical analysis and signature generation/verification. The invariant features, which are generated from the relationship among image blocks in the spatial domain, are coded and signed by the sender's private key to create a digital signature for each image, regardless of the image size. The main contributions of the proposed scheme are: (1) only the spatial domain is adopted during feature generation and verification, making domain transformation process unnecessary; (2) more non-malicious manipulated images (JPEG, JPEG2000 compressed and scaled images) than related studies can be authenticated by LAD, achieving a good trade-off of image authentication between fragile and robust under practical image processing; (3) non-malicious manipulation is clearly defined to meet closely the requirements of storing images or sending them over the Internet. The related analysis and discussion are presented. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method is feasible and effective.