XOR-Based Meaningful (n, n) Visual Multi-Secrets Sharing Schemes

Abstract

The basic visual cryptography (VC) model was proposed by Naor and Shamir in 1994. The secret image is encrypted into pieces, called shares, which can be viewed by collecting and directly stacking these shares. Many related studies were subsequently proposed. The most recent advancement in visual cryptography, XOR-based VC, can address the issue of OR-based VC’s poor image quality of the restored image by lowering hardware costs. Simultaneous sharing of multiple secret images can reduce computational costs, while designing shared images into meaningful unrelated images helps avoid attacks and is easier to manage. Both have been topics of interest to many researchers in recent years. This study suggests ways for XOR-based VCS that simultaneously encrypts several secret images and makes each share separately meaningful. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that our methods are secure and effective. Compared with previous schemes, our scheme has more capabilities.