Robust Reversible Watermarking Research Articles

Robust Reversible Watermarking Scheme in Video Compression Domain Based on Multi-Layer Embedding

Most of the existing research on video watermarking schemes focus on improving the robustness of watermarking. However, in application scenarios such as judicial forensics and telemedicine, the distortion caused by watermark embedding on the original video is unacceptable. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a robust reversible watermarking (RRW)scheme based on multi-layer embedding in the video compression domain. Firstly, the watermarking data are divided into several sub-secrets by using Shamir’s (t, n)-threshold secret sharing. After that, the chroma sub-block with more complex texture information is filtered out in the I-frame of each group of pictures (GOP), and the sub-secret is embedded in that frame by modifying the discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficients within the sub-block. Finally, the auxiliary information required to recover the coefficients is embedded into the motion vector of the P-frame of each GOP by a reversible steganography algorithm. In the absence of an attack, the receiver can recover the DCT coefficients by extracting the auxiliary information in the vectors, ultimately recovering the video correctly. The watermarking scheme demonstrates strong robustness even when it suffers from malicious attacks such as recompression attacks and requantization attacks. The experimental results demonstrate that the watermarking scheme proposed in this paper exhibits reversibility and high visual quality. Moreover, the scheme surpasses other comparable methods in the robustness test session.

Robust reversible watermarking of JPEG images

Robust reversible watermarking (RRW) is a potential technology for copyright protection and integrity authentication due to its ability in both robustness and reversibility. Currently, there is no detailed report on RRW of JPEG images. In this paper, we propose an RRW algorithm of JPEG images by selecting quantized discrete cosine transform coefficients to construct robust features for watermarking. In the proposed algorithm, a watermark sequence can be embedded into a JPEG image by shifting the histogram of its constructed robust features. For less embedding distortion, smaller file size, and higher structural similarity, an evaluation method has been designed to select those appropriate frequency bands for watermarking. On the receiver side, the watermark can be accurately extracted by reconstructing the robust features, and the original JPEG image can be restored losslessly by performing the inverse operation of the histogram shifting. Experimental results show that the watermark is robust to common image processing operations (e.g., JPEG recompression, JPEG2000 compression, WebP compression, and additive white Gaussian noise), and can effectively resist those attacks from the lossy channels in real life, such as the most popular apps Instagram and WeChat.

Robust Reversible Watermarking by Fractional Order Zernike Moments and Pseudo-Zernike Moments

Robust reversible watermarking (RRW) is one of the most popular areas in information hiding. Existing schemes have two drawbacks: 1) schemes that can resist conventional attacks often fail to resist geometric attacks, and 2) schemes that can resist geometric attacks often are not robust against conventional attacks and have poor stability. Inspired by the high robustness of fractional-order orthogonal moments (FoOM) and the good feature of resistance to geometric attacks of Zernike moments and pseudo-Zernike moments (ZM/PZM), in this research, FoOM is used to optimize ZM/PZM to obtain FoZM/FoPZM (namely, fractional-order Zernike moments and fractional-order pseudo-Zernike moments). Furthermore, a denoiser is proposed to preprocess the watermarks to improve the robustness against geometric and conventional attacks, the amount of extracted auxiliary information is decreases and the extraction process of auxiliary information is designed to be more stable. Specifically, first, the source of the difference between the watermarked image and the carrier image is identified, that difference is represented with less information, and then that information is embedded into the cover image as auxiliary information. Second, the watermark is embedded in the low-order FoZM/FoPZM component. Finally, the watermarked image is denoised using a denoiser before extracting the watermark. The experimental results show that the scheme has good stability and strong robustness. Compared with existing methods, the proposed scheme has a small and stable auxiliary information size, strong robustness to noise attacks such as Gaussian noise and salt-and-pepper noise attacks, and better resistance to geometric attacks such as rotation and scaling attacks.

A two-stage robust reversible watermarking using polar harmonic transform for high robustness and capacity

Designing the robust reversible watermarking (RRW) with high robustness and capacity while maintaining invisibility and reversibility is a challenging problem. To alleviate this problem, we present a two-stage RRW scheme using the polar harmonic transform (PHT). In the first stage, it selects robust PHT moments for robust watermarking, develops an adaptive normalization strategy, and constructs a robust watermark embedding method. Specifically, the PHT moments with high robustness are first chosen via experimental simulations. The adaptive normalization strategy is then developed to adjust the robust watermark's embedding strength for the selected moments, aiming at achieving higher robustness. By adjusting quantized errors to integers, the standard distortion-compensated quantization index modulation (DC-QIM) is optimized. And the optimized DC-QIM for embedding robust watermark facilitates decreasing the number of bits of quantized errors representation and thus increasing the embedding capacity. In the second stage, the reversible watermarking is conducted to achieve reversibility in the absence of attacks. That is, distortions caused by the robust watermark embedding are inserted by a reversible watermarking technique. The proposed scheme performs better than state-of-the-arts in terms of bit error rate (BER) performance, according to extensive experimental results. Our code is available at https://github.com/yichao-tang/PHT-RRW.

Reversible Database Watermarking Based on Order-preserving Encryption for Data Sharing

In the era of big data, data sharing not only boosts the economy of the world but also brings about problems of privacy disclosure and copyright infringement. The collected data may contain users’ sensitive information; thus, privacy protection should be applied to the data prior to them being shared. Moreover, the shared data may be re-shared to third parties without the consent or awareness of the original data providers. Therefore, there is an urgent need for copyright tracking. There are few works satisfying the requirements of both privacy protection and copyright tracking. The main challenge is how to protect the shared data and realize copyright tracking while not undermining the utility of the data. In this article, we propose a novel solution of a reversible database watermarking scheme based on order-preserving encryption. First, we encrypt the data using order-preserving encryption and adjust an encryption parameter within an appropriate interval to generate a ciphertext with redundant space. Then, we leverage the redundant space to embed robust reversible watermarking. We adopt grouping and K-means to improve the embedding capacity and the robustness of the watermark. Formal theoretical analysis proves that the proposed scheme guarantees correctness and security. Results of extensive experiments show that OPEW has 100% data utility, and the robustness and efficiency of OPEW are better than existing works.

A Highly Robust Reversible Watermarking Scheme Using Embedding Optimization and Rounded Error Compensation

The robust reversible watermarking (RRW) requires high robustness and capacity on the condition of reversibility and imperceptibility, which still remains a big challenge nowadays. In this paper, we propose a two-stage RRW scheme that improves robustness and capacity through embedding optimization and rounded error compensation. The first stage inserts a robust watermark into the selected Pseudo-Zernike moments (PZMs) by using an adaptive normalization method and an optimized embedding strategy. Specifically, the adaptive normalization method achieves both an invariance to pixel amplitude variation and a balance between robustness and imperceptibility, and the optimized embedding strategy reduces embedding distortions remarkably. The watermarked PZMs are inversely transformed to generate the robustly watermarked image, in which rounded errors caused in the inverse transformation is compensated elaborately and thus a larger capacity can be obtained at the same embedding distortion. The second stage embeds a reversible watermark consisting of errors between the robust watermark embedded image and the original one, aiming at achieving the reversibility in case of no attacks. Extensive experimental simulations show that the proposed scheme provides strong robustness against common signal processing, including AWGN, salt-and-pepper noise, JPEG, JPEG2000, median filtering, mean filtering, geometrical transformations involving rotation and scaling, and a compressive sensing attack exemplified by two-dimensional compressive sensing, which outperforms the state-of-the-art schemes. Our code is available at <uri xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">https://github.com/yichao-tang/PZMs-RRW</uri> .

Robust reversible image watermarking scheme based on spread spectrum

Robust reversible watermarking can provide robustness against various attacks besides the ability to recover the cover image. However, robustness and reversibility are somewhat separate in many schemes. The original cover image cannot be recovered even if the watermarked image suffers from a tiny distortion. This paper presents a new robust reversible watermarking scheme by exploring the reversibility of spread-spectrum codes. Watermark bits are embedded by a suggested adaptive spread-spectrum code. The embedding amplitude used in the algorithms is determined by quantizing the source interference of the cover. The proposed scheme is robust to various attacks. Furthermore, since the embedding amplitude is available at the receiver, the original image can be recovered losslessly when there is no attack. Even in the presence of attacks, the original cover images can still be partially recovered. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed scheme performs well on robustness and watermarked image quality, and provide extra reversibility that resists image distortions.

A Domain-independent Dual-image based Robust Reversible Watermarking

A Domain-independent Dual-image based Robust Reversible Watermarking

Compression Domain Reversible Robust Watermarking Based on Multilayer Embedding

The integration of data sensing, communication, and computing (SCC) is a requirement for the IoT to provide a high quality of service. However, there are still data security issues in SCC integration, where data are vulnerable to leakage during sensing, communication, and computing, and the leaked data are difficult to be copyrighted and traced to the source of leakage. In this study, we consider the copyright protection problem in multimedia data transmission and propose a robust reversible watermarking algorithm based on multilayer embedding in the compression domain. In the first stage, the robust watermark is embedded into the mid-frequency coefficients, and then, the auxiliary information to revert the robust embedding is embedded into the high-frequency coefficients. To improve robustness and reduce embedding distortion, we propose a coefficient selection method, by which the watermark and the recovery information are embedded in different DCT-quantized coefficients according to the texture complexity. Experiment results indicate that the proposed method performs better than some state-of-the-art RRW methods.

A robust reversible watermarking scheme overcomes the misalignment problem of generalized histogram shifting

A robust reversible watermarking scheme overcomes the misalignment problem of generalized histogram shifting

Evaluation of a Framework for Robust Image Reversible Watermarking

In the literature, robust reversible watermarking schemes (RWSs) allow the extraction of watermarks after the images have suffered attacks; however, the modified images are compromised. On the other hand, self-recovery schemes will restore the compromised regions of the images, but no secret messages are inserted in these schemes. A framework for robust reversible watermarking with signal restoration capabilities was previously proposed in the literature. This study selects four fragile reversible watermarking techniques and two self-recovery schemes to design different framework configurations. These configurations are evaluated to test the framework’s performance and determine the structure that yields better results in terms of perceptual transparency using a well-known image database as the signal input. It was found that fragile reversible watermarking schemes hold low perceptual distortion, while self-recovery schemes produce high perceptual distortion levels. The inherent characteristics of each algorithm determine, a priori, the behavior of the framework, which is approximated by a proposed equation.

A coding layer robust reversible watermarking algorithm for digital image in multi-antenna system

Although existing robust reversible watermarking (RRW) schemes are robust to image processing attacks, they do not consider the effect of noise on the encoded digital images when they are transmitted in the wireless channel. In this paper, we propose a coding layer robust reversible watermarking (CL-RRW) algorithm for digital images in multi-antenna system. Through the specially designed preprocessing steps for the encoded carrier image and the embedding method of secret information, the scheme makes full use of the error correction capability of channel coding, and makes the impact of the embedding of secret information on the carrier approximate to natural noise. We analyse the proposed scheme based on multi-antenna systems and Rayleigh fading channels, which can simulate more realistic wireless communication scenarios. The analysis shows that in this scenario, the embedding capacity (EC) can reach the upper bound more quickly as the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) increases. Within the deduced EC, the difference in peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) between the original and stego images does not exceed 10%. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is entirely resistant to image processing attacks, while enabling the receiver to obtain high-quality carrier images and low bit error rate (BER) secret information.

Robust Reversible Watermarking by Fractional Order Zernike Moments and Pseudo-Zernike Moments

Robust Reversible Watermarking by Fractional Order Zernike Moments and Pseudo-Zernike Moments

Privacy preserving reversible watermarking in the encrypted domain through self-blinding

This paper presents robust image-based reversible watermarking in the encrypted domain. Two algorithms with a high embedding rate are proposed for embedding data in a homomorphic-encrypted domain using the Paillier encryption scheme. Both algorithms exploit the self-blinding property of the Paillier scheme to accomplish flexibility in extraction. Using these algorithms, blind and error-free watermark extraction is possible in the plaintext domain and encrypted domain. The robustness of the algorithms has validated by considering various noise attacks in the encrypted domain. The proposed methods outperform its predecessors on the same embedding platform either in the flexibility of the extraction process or in the embedding capacity and find applications in privacy preserving distributed signal processing which is a major requirement in a cloud environment.

Privacy preserving reversible watermarking in the encrypted domain through self-blinding

This paper presents robust image-based reversible watermarking in the encrypted domain. Two algorithms with a high embedding rate are proposed for embedding data in a homomorphic-encrypted domain using the Paillier encryption scheme. Both algorithms exploit the self-blinding property of the Paillier scheme to accomplish flexibility in extraction. Using these algorithms, blind and error-free watermark extraction is possible in the plaintext domain and encrypted domain. The robustness of the algorithms has validated by considering various noise attacks in the encrypted domain. The proposed methods outperform its predecessors on the same embedding platform either in the flexibility of the extraction process or in the embedding capacity and find applications in privacy preserving distributed signal processing which is a major requirement in a cloud environment.

A Reversible Watermarking System for Medical Color Images: Balancing Capacity, Imperceptibility, and Robustness

The authenticity and integrity of medical images in telemedicine has to be protected. Robust reversible watermarking (RRW) algorithms provide copyright protection and the original images can be recovered at the receiver’s end. However, the existing algorithms have limitations in their ability to balance the tradeoff among robustness, imperceptibility, and embedded capacity. Some of them are even not completely reversible. Besides, most medical image watermarking algorithms are not designed for color images. To improve their performance in protecting medical color image information, we propose a novel RRW scheme based on the discrete wavelet transform (DWT). First, the DWT provides a robust solution. Second, the modification of the wavelet domain coefficient guarantees the changes of integer values in the spatial domain and ensures the reversibility of the watermarking scheme. Third, the embedding scheme makes full use of the characteristics of the original image and watermarking. This reduces the modification of the original image and ensures better imperceptibility. Lastly, the selection of the Zernike moments order for geometric correction is optimized to predict attack parameters more accurately by using less information. This enhances the robustness of the proposed scheme against geometric attacks such as rotation and scaling. The proposed scheme is robust against common and geometric attacks and has a high embedding capacity without obvious distortion of the image. The paper contributes towards improving the security of medical images in remote healthcare.

A Novel Fuzzy Inference System Based Robust Reversible Watermarking Technique provided with Six Layer Security

Digital Watermarking has evolved as one of the latest technologies for digital media copyright protection. Watermarking of images can be done in many ways and one of the proposed algorithms for image watermarking is by utilizing Fuzzy Logic. It is similar to the concept of a Fuzzy set, each element can be defined by an ordered pair, in which one is the value and other is the membership function value. Fuzzy logic systems can explain inaccurate information and explain their decisions. Fuzzy inference system is the simplest way of performing Fuzzy Logic. In the proposed method, three Fuzzy inference models are used to generate the weighing factor for embedding the watermark and input to the Fuzzy Inference System is taken from the Human Visual System model. The Performance measures used in the Process are Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR), Structural Similarity Index (SSIM), Normalized Cross Correlation (NCC) and Bit Error Ratio (BER). The Proposed algorithm is immune to various Image Processing attacks.

Robust Reversible Watermarking in Encrypted Image With Secure Multi-Party Based on Lightweight Cryptography

With the rapid development of network media, increasing research on reversible watermarking has focused on improving its robustness to resisting attacks during digital media transmission. There are some other reversible watermarking schemes that work in the encrypted domain for preserving the privacy of the cover image. The robustness of the watermarking and the privacy preserving of the cover image have become the key factors of reversible watermarking. However, there are few robust reversible watermarking schemes in the encrypted domain that could resist common attacks (such as JPEG compression, noise addition) and preserve privacy at the same time. In addition, the embedding capacity of a robust watermark and the efficiency of the encryption method must be considered. Recently, cloud computing technology has led to the rapid growth of network media, and many multimedia properties are owned by multiple parties, such as a film’s producer and multiple distributors. Multi-party watermarking has become an important demand for network media to protect all parties’ rights. In this paper, a Robust Reversible Watermarking scheme in Encrypted Image with Secure Multi-party (RRWEI-SM) based on lightweight cryptography is first proposed. Additive secret sharing and block-level scrambling are developed to generate the encrypted image. Then, the robust reversible watermarking based on significant bit Prediction Error Expansion (PEE) is performed by Secure Multi-party Computation (SMC). For applications with high robustness, a Modified RRWEI-SM is proposed by exploiting two-stage architecture. Furthermore, both the RRWEI-SM scheme and Modified RRWEI-SM scheme are separable and can be applied to multiparty copyright protection. The experimental results and theoretical analysis demonstrate here that the RRWEI-SM and the Modified RRWEI-SM are secure, robust and effective.

Separable Robust Reversible Watermarking in Encrypted 2D Vector Graphics

To accomplish robust watermark extraction in reversible watermarking both in plaintext domain and encrypted domain, a separable robust reversible watermarking in encrypted 2D vector graphics is proposed in this paper. Firstly, a content owner uses a key to scramble the polar angles of the vertices to encrypt the graphics in the polar coordinate system. Consequently, a watermark embedder maps the encoded watermark segments to different vertices under the control of an embedding key and an HMAC (hash-based message authentication code) function. After that, the polar angle of the vertex is slightly adjusted to embed a watermark. Since the decryption operation does not affect the embedded watermark, the watermark can be extracted both in the plaintext and encrypted domain. Experimental results and analysis show that the proposed scheme can achieve good invisibility and reversibility. It can effectively resist normal operations such as rotation, scaling, translation (RST) and entity reordering, and it has good robustness against malicious attacks such as vertices/entities addition, deletion and modification.

Homomorphic Encryption-Based Robust Reversible Watermarking for 3D Model

Robust reversible watermarking in an encrypted domain is a technique that preserves privacy and protects copyright for multimedia transmission in the cloud. In general, most models of buildings and medical organs are constructed by three-dimensional (3D) models. A 3D model shared through the internet can be easily modified by an unauthorized user, and in order to protect the security of 3D models, a robust reversible 3D models watermarking method based on homomorphic encryption is necessary. In the proposed method, a 3D model is divided into non-overlapping patches, and the vertex in each patch is encrypted by using the Paillier cryptosystem. On the cloud side, in order to utilize addition and multiplication homomorphism of the Paillier cryptosystem, three direction values of each patch are computed for constructing the corresponding histogram, which is shifted to embed watermark. For obtaining watermarking robustness, the robust interval is designed in the process of histogram shifting. The watermark can be extracted from the symmetrical direction histogram, and the original encrypted model can be restored by histogram shifting. Moreover, the process of watermark embedding and extraction are symmetric. Experimental results show that compared with the existing watermarking methods in encrypted 3D models, the quality of the decrypted model is improved. Moreover, the proposed method is robust to common attacks, such as translation, scaling, and Gaussian noise.