Multi-secret Image Research Articles

A verifiable multi-secret image sharing scheme based on DNA encryption

A verifiable multi-secret image sharing scheme based on DNA encryption

Blockchain-based authenticable (k,n) multi-secret image sharing scheme

Blockchain-based authenticable (k,n) multi-secret image sharing scheme

Optimal Multisecret Image Sharing Using Lightweight Visual Sign-Cryptography Scheme With Optimal Key Generation for Gray/Color Images

Problem: Digital devices are becoming increasingly powerful and smart, which is improving quality of life, but presents new challenges to privacy protection. Visual cryptographic schemes provide data sharing privacy, but have drawbacks such as extra storage space, lossy secret images, and the need to store permutation keys. Aim: This paper proposes a light-weight visual sign-cryptography scheme based on optimal key generation to address the disadvantages of existing visual cryptographic schemes and improve the security, sharing quality, and time consumption of multisecret images. Methods: The proposed light-weight visual sign-cryptography (LW-VSC) scheme consists of three processes: band separation, shares generation, and signcryption/un-signcryption. The process of separation and shares generation is done by an existing method. The multiple shares of the secret images are then encrypted/decrypted using light-weight sign-cryptography. The proposed scheme uses a novel harpy eagle search optimization (HESO) algorithm to generate optimal keys for both the encrypt/decrypt processes. Results: Simulation results and comparative analysis showed the proposed scheme is more secure and requires less storage space, with faster encryption/decryption and improved key generation quality. Conclusion: The proposed light-weight visual sign-cryptography scheme based on optimal key generation is a promising approach to enhance security and improve data sharing quality. The HESO algorithm shows promise in improving the quality of key generation, providing better privacy protection in the face of increasingly powerful digital devices.

Compressed sensing based visually secure multi-secret image encryption-sharing scheme

Compressed sensing based visually secure multi-secret image encryption-sharing scheme

A novel multi secret image sharing scheme for different dimension secrets

A novel multi secret image sharing scheme for different dimension secrets

Multi-secret image sharing using the random image and Boolean operations

Multi-secret image sharing using the random image and Boolean operations

An Efficient Multi-Secret Image Sharing System Based on Chinese Remainder Theorem and Its FPGA Realization

Multi-Secret Image Sharing (MSIS) is important in information security when multiple images are shared in an unintelligible form to different participants, where the images can only be recovered using the shares from participants. This paper proposes a simple and efficient ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n,n$ </tex-math></inline-formula> )-MSIS system for colored images based on XOR and Chinese Remainder Theorem (CRT), where all the <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n$ </tex-math></inline-formula> share are required in the recovery. The system improves the security by adding dependency on the input images to be robust against differential attacks, and by using several delay units. It works with even and odd number of inputs, and has a long sensitive system key design for the CRT. Security analysis and a comparison with related literature are introduced with good results including statistical tests, differential attack measures, and key sensitivity tests as well as performance analysis tests such as time and space complexity. In addition, Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) realization of the proposed system is presented with throughput 530 Mbits/sec. Finally, the proposed MSIS system is validated through software and hardware with all statistical analyses and proper hardware resources with low power consumption, high throughput and high level of security.

Boolean-Based (k, n, m) Multi-Secret Image Sharing

Multi-secret image sharing technology shares multiple secret images among shared images for participants and the recovery requires enough shared images for fulfilling the security property. Simultaneously, the adopted Boolean method preserves high performance. The proposed (k, n, m) multi-secret image sharing scheme shares m secret images among n participants and gathering k participants’ shared images perfectly recovers these m secret images. The proposed scheme exhibits high performance because of the usage of Boolean-based processing. Moreover, the usage of a sharing matrix based strategy acquires perfect reconstruction of the secret images under (k, n) thresholds. Two proposed schemes, the source-random-mixed (SRM) and the source-random-separate (SRS) methods, are presented in this study from different strategies of sharing the random image mixed with the secret images or separated to the secret images, respectively. Moreover, the proposed SRS method exhibits the better sharing capacity. Experimental results show that the proposed schemes perform well on sharing efficiency and security.

A novel approach for multilevel multi-secret image sharing scheme

Multi-secret sharing (MSS) is an effective technique that securely encodes multiple secrets to generate shares and distributes them among the participants in such a way that these shares can be used later to reconstruct the secrets. MSS schemes have a considerable advantage over the single-secret sharing schemes for secure multimedia data transmission. This paper presents a novel secret image sharing approach, namely ‘(n, m, l)-Multilevel Multi-Secret Image Sharing (MMSIS) scheme.’ The proposed MMSIS scheme encodes ‘n’ distinct secret images to generate ‘m’ shares and distributes them among ‘m’ participants allocated to ‘l’ distinct levels. The paper proposes two variants of the MMSIS scheme. The first variant is an $$(n,n+1,l)$$ -MMSIS scheme which encodes ‘n’ secret images each having a unique level id $$L_k$$ into $$(n+1)$$ shares. The image shares are then distributed among $$(n+1)$$ participants assigned to ‘ $$l=n$$ ’ different levels. With the increase in level id, the number of shares required to reconstruct the secret image also increases. To reconstruct a secret image of a particular level $$L_k$$ , all the shares at level $$L_k$$ and its preceding levels need to be acquired, which requires the consensus of all participants holding the shares up to level $$L_k$$ . The second variant, namely extended-MMSIS (EMMSIS) scheme is a generalized (n, m, l) version of the former scheme that allows to generate more shares for a specific secret image at a particular level in accordance with the consensus requirements for its reconstruction. The multilevel structure of the scheme makes it useful for multi-secret distribution in a multilevel organizational structure.

XOR-Based Progressively Secret Image Sharing

Secret image sharing technology is a strategy for jointly protecting secret images. The (n, n) secret image sharing problem can be solved by conventional Boolean calculation easily. However, how to recover secret images with progressive steps is not addressed. In this study, we proposed an XOR-based (m, t, Ti) multi-secret image sharing scheme that shares m secret images among m participants and recovers m shared images progressively with t thresholds. The proposed secret images partition strategy (SIPS) partitions m secret images to generate intermediate images for different thresholds in the sharing procedure. Based on progressive recovery property, the proposed recovery method recovers parts of the secret images by gathering consecutive shared images. Moreover, gathering all shared images can perfectly recover all secret images. The experimental results show that the proposed XOR-based multi-secret image sharing method has high security and efficiency.

A (k, n) multi-secret image sharing scheme based on Chinese remainder theorem and Arnold cat map

A multi-secret image sharing (MSIS) scheme is a procedure to break down secret images into numerous shares and distribute each share to each authorized participant. Most existing ( n , n ) schemes face the problem of all-or-nothing that is all the n shares are required to reconstruct a secret image. If a single share is lost, then the secret image will not be recovered. Moreover, the existing ( k , n ) MSIS schemes either require k consecutive shares or general access structure to recover the secret images. The proposed scheme addresses the previous schemes’ issues. It is based on Arnold cat map, Chinese remainder theorem (CRT), and Boolean operation. It is a ( k , n ) threshold scheme where k is the threshold, and n is the number of participants. Arnold cat map is adopted for the randomization of images, and Boolean operation is used for producing public share images. CRT is utilized for the recovery of images. It has high fault tolerance capability as any of the k participants can submit their shares to reconstruct images and consume less computational time due to employing the modular method. Moreover, it can withstand differential as well as statistical attacks.

Multi Secret Image Sharing Scheme of General Access Structure with Meaningful Shares

A Multi Secret Image sharing scheme can share several secret images among certain participators securely. Boolean-based secret sharing schemes are one kind of secret sharing method with light-weighted computation compared to the previous complex algebraic-based methods, which can realize the sharing of multi secret images. However, the existing Boolean-based multi secret sharing schemes are mostly restricted to the particular case of (2, n) and (n, n), only few Boolean-based multi secret sharing schemes study the general access structure, and the shares are mostly meaningless. In this paper, a new Boolean-based multi secret sharing scheme with the general access structure is proposed. All the shares are meaningful, which can avoid attracting the attention of adversaries, and the secret images can be recovered in a lossless manner. The feasibility of the scheme is proven, the performance is validated by the experiments on the gray images, and the analysis of the comparison with other methods is also given out.

Efficient collusion resistant multi-secret image sharing

Multi-secret image sharing techniques (MSS) extend the secret image sharing schemes. The paper reports a novel MSS scheme designed to be collusion resistant. It starts with a brief introduction of the concept thereafter discussing the related works in the domain. Security is an implicit requirement for MSS techniques. There should be no possibility of collusion among the shareholders. No less than k shareholders for (k, n) MSS scheme should be having even a slight view of the secret from their shares, n being the total number of shareholders. The paper reviews and highlights the security issues like possibility of collusion, randomness issues or robustness against tampering attack in the state-of-the-art works. It proposes a new (n, n) MSS scheme in order to rectify the issues. The algorithm encrypts N different secret images to generate N noisy share images. It resolves the existing problems in a secure, and time efficient manner. A range of experiments specifically time complexity, noise, tampering, collusion and histogram analysis are performed for rigorous security analysis. The results, thus obtained indicated that the algorithm is efficient and preserves the security requirements in a much better way than the existing MSS schemes.

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

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.

Multi-secret image sharing based on elementary cellular automata with steganography

This paper presents a new Multi-Secret Image Sharing (MSIS) scheme with steganography, based on elementary cellular automata (ECA). A particular type of ECA, with behavior of generating some attractors which are called unary attractors, is used to share the secret images. The shares and the authentication strings, produced by a cryptographic hash function, are then embedded in color images using mod4-based operation in such a way that visual quality of stego are preserved as much as possible. The proposed scheme is verifiable as well, because a cryptographic hash function is used for secret images. Based on our experiments, the share images satisfy randomization which ensures the security of the proposed algorithm. Also, influence of similarity of some secret images is analyzed, the results ensures the completely deference between the shared images in the case of the similarity between two secret images. Moreover, the experimental results show that the embedded algorithm improves a good quality acceptable by a human eye of stego images. In addition, the proposed embedded algorithm has a good resistance against noise attack, and cropping attack. Compared with related secret sharing schemes, the proposed scheme provides most of desirable aspects such as verification, hiding shares, and also a linear computational complexity.

Hierarchical visual cryptography for multisecret images based on a modified phase retrieval algorithm

Visual cryptography is generally based on the base matrix scheme or the random grid scheme. These schemes may cause some problems, such as the expansion of the shares and the recovered images and the distortion of the recovered images. In this paper, we propose a modified phase retrieval algorithm and present a hierarchical visual cryptography scheme (HVCS). The scheme overcomes the problems that are mentioned and can share multiple secret images. Considering the differences in the social division of labor, there is a hierarchy between the shared images in the proposed scheme, that is, the participants have different rights. Further, to make the proposed scheme more applicable to practical needs, we propose a generalized HVCS by modifying the phase retrieval algorithm again so that each level can have more than one participant. The effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed scheme are verified by theoretical analysis and numerical simulation.

Multi-secret Image Sharing Scheme based on coding method

Image Secret sharing scheme is an effective way to share a secret message by distributing the shares to different owners which has become a relatively independent research field. The classical Shamir’s scheme is based on Lagrange interpolation polynomial, and the utility of the scheme is greatly compromised by the complex polynomial operations cost. Visual cryptography is a special image sharing scheme, which uses the human visual system to recover the secret information. Multi-secret shared visual cryptography is an important research part of visual cryptography. It can share several secret images, and have important significance for perfecting the theoretical system of visual cryptography and expanding the application fields of visual cryptography. In this paper, based on the research of the internal relations between the coding theory and the secret sharing, a Multi-secret Image Sharing scheme is proposed, the generation of the shares is realized by the binary Cauchy encoding. It satisfies the general characters of the secret image sharing schemes, and the algorithm complexity is low, which is easy for implementation.

A new multi-secret image sharing scheme based on DCT

Multi-secret image sharing scheme (MSIS) is a technique to share multiple secret images over the internet. Normally, most of the secret image sharing schemes can share only a single secret image. However, due to the rapid development of internet technology, the necessity of sharing multiple images arises. An (n, n) MSIS is employed to share n images to n authorized participants. All the n participants are required to submit their respective shares to recover the original secret images. If the number of the participants is less than n, then reconstruction of the secret images is impossible. Most of the existing schemes which are in the frequency domain do not have the capability to handle multiple secret images. In this paper, a MSIS that uses the Discrete Cosine Transform is proposed to overcome the limitation present in the existing schemes. Moreover, the proposed scheme requires less computational time than the existing schemes. Security of the proposed scheme is analyzed and shows that the proposed scheme is computationally secure. Also, the proposed scheme can recover the same original secret images.

An efficient Boolean based multi-secret image sharing scheme

The purpose of this paper is to develop an algorithm for sharing k secret images to n participants in such a way that each participant gets a single share image by encoding all k images. Any qualified subgroup of t : t ≤ n of those n participants can reconstruct the kith secret image only by combining their share images if they are qualified to reconstruct the kith secret image. Most of the existing literature solves this problem for the cases where t = 2 or t = n making it a very restrictive scheme. In this article, we aim to design a multi-secret image sharing scheme based on XOR operation where t is not restricted to be 2 or n. We have used n random matrices of the same size as the secret image size as private share to generate r (where r is the number of qualified subgroups) share images as public share using XOR operations. The proposed scheme is computationally lightweight and lossless due to XOR operation only. It does not involve any pixel expansion. The experimental results with a very low correlation coefficient between share and secret images confirm that share image does not reveal anything about secret image. The scheme is secure against differential attack as a higher value of Number of Changing Pixel rate (NPCR) confirms that. The current proposal is based on a general access structure, and hence any secret image can be reconstructed by a qualified group of t or more shares where t need not be 2 or n only.

Secure and efficient arithmetic-based multi-secret image sharing scheme using universal share

Visual secret sharing (VSS) scheme is an encryption technique to hide secret message into two or more meaningless images, called as shares. Shares are stack together to decrypt the secret message using human visual system. To share many secrets, multi-secret image sharing schemes are often used. Diversity in sharing multiple secrets is using the universal share. Company organizer shares multiple secret images using this common share. Computation cost is the major drawback of such scheme. This study presents computationally efficient arithmetic-based multi-secret image sharing scheme using the universal share. Binary arithmetic-based scheme utilizes distinct value selecting function while encoding and decoding of secret images. Distinct value selecting function enhances randomness property of shares and fulfills threshold property. Thus, the proposed method provides computationally efficient method while satisfying threshold security criteria.