The rapid growth of online activities such as commerce, education, research, and virtual conferences has led to a greater reliance on digital images as primary information sources on social media and other platforms. The extensive use, combined with the ease of modification via image-editing software, highlights the crucial need for effective image forgery detection tools. Traditional detection methods based on handcrafted features have grown less efficient, prompting the introduction of deep learning-based approaches, many of which combine transfer learning with pre-trained models to improve detection efficiency and shorten training time. This research presents a comprehensive evaluation of image forgery detection algorithms, categorizing them as classical, deep learning, and transfer learning frameworks. The study compares deep learning with transfer learning methods, assessing their strengths in feature extraction, classification, and detection accuracy. The findings indicate that, while transfer learning models are particularly effective at feature extraction using pre-trained architectures, deep learning remains superior for classification tasks. This insight intends to help academics construct high-accuracy, efficient models for detecting various forms of forgeries. Combining pre-trained models for feature extraction and deep learning for classification is the best option for real-time digital forensics, increasing detection accuracy and processing speed.
Read full abstract