Watermarking Attacks Research Articles

Implementation of a Double Sequence Encryption Scheme Based on Chaotic Map

this paper presents a new scheme for enhancing the security of full disk encryption relying on the double sequence encryption based on chaotic map in order to improve the performance of its practical implementation. The aims of the proposed scheme are to design a keystream generator for the tweakable enciphering mode in space or time sequence using the real-time embedded device through sequential change detection on the disk read-and-write request. This design of the scheme is based on re-keying principle and derived from information-theoretical evaluation. Analyses show that the scheme is provably secure and can prevent inner and outer attackers from attacking. To the best of our knowledge, the scheme offers the first comprehensive solution to the watermarking attack in the same sector.

An Effective Audio Watermarking using DWT-SVD

Audio watermarking has been proved as a powerful tool against illegal manipulation of audio products. It is generally used as a multimedia copyright protection tool. In this paper, we propose an audio watermarking algorithm based on two mathematical functions: Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). These algorithms performance is validated in the presence of the standard watermarking attacks. A new audio signal framing, DWT matrix formation and embedding methods are proposed and successfully implemented to improve the quality of watermarked audio. Natural variability of speech features allows watermarking alterations to be imperceptible to the human observer. On the other hand, significance of these features makes the system robust to common signal processing operations.

Audio Watermarking Based on Vector Quantization Index Modulation Using Audio Fingerprint

SUMMARY Development of high-quality digital audio watermarking with robustness to data compression and watermark attacks such as cropping is an important research topic. Recently, an effective watermarking method using vector quantization index modulation (VQIM) was proposed to improve the watermark performance. In this paper, a new auditory-band MDCT-based VQIM-type watermarking using audio fingerprint (AFP) is proposed to enhance the performance. The parameter values of VQIM are essential for audio quality and robustness, which are determined as individual codebook parameters. The parameters are estimated using AFP in the watermark detection process. In simulations, the effectiveness of the method was examined to show its robustness to watermark attacks. The audio quality was evaluated based on PEAQ.

Improving the Security of the Medical Images

Applying security to the transmitted medical images is important to protect the privacy of patients. Secure transmission requires cryptography, and watermarking to achieve confidentiality, and data integrity. Improving cryptography part needs to use an encryption algorithm that stands for a long time against different attacks. The proposed method is based on number theory and uses Chinese remainder theorem as a backbone. This approach achieves high level of security and stands against different attacks for a long time. On watermarking part, the medical image is divided into two regions: a region of interest (ROI) and a region of background (ROB). The pixel values of the ROI contain the important information so this region must not experience any change. The proposed watermarking technique is based on dividing the medical image in to blocks and inserting the watermark to the ROI by shifting the blocks. Then, an equivalent number of blocks in the ROB are removed. This approach can be considered as lossless since it does not affect on the ROI, also it does not increase the image size. In addition, it can stand against some watermarking attacks such cropping, and noise.

Rotation Invariance in 2D-FRFT with Application to Digital Image Watermarking

The extraction of rotation invariant representation is important for many signal processing tasks such as image analysis, computer vision, pattern recognition and so forth. In this paper, we show that, under certain conditions, the Two-Dimensional Fractional Fourier Transform (2D-FRFT) possesses this attractive property through mathematical analysis and extensive computer simulations. Based on this property, we propose a novel digital image watermarking method which combines 2D chirp signal with the addition and rotation invariant properties of 2D-FRFT in order to improve robustness and security of digital image watermark in 2D-FRFT domain. Experimental results show that the proposed method is robust against numerous watermarking attacks including rotation geometrical transform, JPEG compression, crop, median filtering, histogram equalization, salt & pepper noise, Gaussian lowpass filter, shift, dithering and Gaussian noise, and secures against unauthorized information copying and redistribution.

A two‐step watermarking attack using long‐range correlation image restoration

ABSTRACTThis paper presents an efficient scheme for blind watermark attacking using the concept of matching of the long‐range data. The main idea of the proposed attack is to add plenty of noise to the watermarked image and then try to restore an unwatermarked copy of the noisy image. The aim is to destroy the watermark information without accessing the parameters used during the watermark embedding process. So, it allows our approach to be completely free from any pre‐assumption on the watermarking algorithm or any other parameters that is used during the watermark embedding procedure. Experimental results show the proposed algorithm's superiority over several other traditional watermarking benchmarks such as Stirmark and Optimark. Peak signal‐to‐noise ratio of the watermarked image after applying the proposed attack is more than 45 dB, and the normalized cross‐correlation for the extracted watermark is lower than 0·4, so the watermark is not detectable after our attack. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

On the robustness of Harris detector in image watermarking attacks

This paper investigates the misplacement issue presented on the detection of feature points by using the well-known Harris detector, under several watermarking attacks. Harris detector, as a powerful tool in finding image's points of high importance, called “interest points”, has been widely used to locate specific image portions where watermarks are embedded, according to some watermarking insertion procedure. Although Harris detector constitutes a significant part of a typical feature-based watermarking process, no work dealing with its performance under certain attacks has been reported yet. This work studies the accuracy of Harris detector in finding the feature points, which define the watermarked regions of attacked images, firstly as an individual processing module and secondly as a part of a feature-based watermarking methodology. Detailed theoretical analysis followed by appropriate simulation experiments has shown that the incorporation of the Harris detector into the watermarking procedure presents misplacement issues that can lead the watermarking algorithm to unreliable results. In the way of decreasing these misplacement errors, a novel algorithm that extracts more stable interest points, with promising performance is also proposed.

Blind dewatermarking method based on wavelet transform

Along with the improvement of image watermarking techniques, the necessity for effectively and comprehensively evaluating various algorithms becomes imperative. In this paper, we first propose a new categorization that fits for most of the existing watermarking algorithms that work in the wavelet domain. Then an adaptive watermarking attack for evaluating the robustness of watermarking schemes that are based on the proposed categorization is presented. This attack determines the flat regions, edges, and textures of the watermarked image and based on known features of each region the proposed attack tries to destroy the watermark information. This is done by separately manipulating the wavelet coefficients of each region such that the least visual distortion will be imposed on the attacked image. We study some recent watermarking techniques in terms of the watermark invisibility and robustness through subjective experiments and objective metrics. The average peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) of the watermarked image after applying the proposed attack is more than 35 dB and the average normalized cross correlation (NC) for the extracted watermark is lower than 0.4, so theoretically, the watermark is not detectable. Moreover, the proposed method does not consider any knowledge about the underlying watermarking algorithm.

Watermarking Based on Complemented MLCA and 2D CAT

Digital watermarking has gained importance in recent years in copyright protection and multimedia. This paper proposes a secure and novel watermarking system based on complemented Maximum Length Cellular Automata (MLCA) and Two-Dimension Cellular Automata Transform (2D CAT). In this watermarking scheme, the original watermark is first encrypted by complemented MLCA with the private keys, and then the encrypted watermark is embedded into the CAT domain of the cover image, at last use the inverse CAT for the transformed image, the watermarked image is obtained. Experiment results show that this new method is more secure and provides robust performance against watermarking attacks.

Novel robust image watermarking based on subsampling and DWT

This paper presents a robust digital image watermarking scheme based on subsampling and DWT. Subsampling is firstly used to construct a subimage sequence as a video segment. Then, a random watermark sequence satisfied with Gaussian distribution is block-wised embedded into the DWT domain of these subimages repeatedly using the video watermarking technique. And watermark is detected through computing correlation between watermark and watermarked frames. The experiment results demonstrate that the proposed scheme achieves good robustness against JPEG compression, common image processing operation and geometric distortions. Furthermore, the proposed watermarking scheme is also robust against linear collusion and other video watermarking attacks.

A Novel Gray Image Watermarking Scheme

An effective and integrated image watermarking scheme mainly includes watermark generation, watermark embedding, watermark identification, and watermark attack. In this paper, a novel discrete wavelet transform domain image watermark scheme is proposed to meet the watermarking properties: security, imperceptibility and robustness. Here watermark comes from a meaningful binary image encrypted by two-dimensional chaotic stream encryption, which has more security. In the procedure of watermark embedding, the watermark is embedded into host image through selecting and modifying the wavelet coefficients using genetic algorithms with a simple fitness function to improve the imperceptibility of watermarked image. In order to identify the owner of extracted watermark, synergetic neural networks are used in the watermarking identification to overcome the limitation of correlation analysis or the human sense organ after some attacks. The results of our scheme realization and robust experiments show that this scheme has preferable performance.

A Video Watermark Method Based on Chaotic Encryption

An effective and integrated video watermark scheme mainly includes watermark generation, watermark embedding, watermark detecting, and watermark attack. The watermark data come from a meaningful binary image encrypted by two-dimensional chaotic stream encryption to improve watermark security. In the procedure of watermark embedding, watermarks are embedded into the random selected video frames through modifying the DCT coefficients. After robust and frame processes, watermarks can be mainly extracted and identified through watermark extracting algorithm. The experimental results show that the proposed video watermark method has some performances of security, imperceptibility and robustness.

A Contourlet-Based Image Watermarking Scheme with High Resistance to Removal and Geometrical Attacks

We propose a new nonblind multiresolution watermarking method for still images based on the contourlet transform (CT). In our approach, the watermark is a grayscale image which is embedded into the highest frequency subband of the host image in its contourlet domain. We demonstrate that in comparison to other methods, this method enables us to embed more amounts of data into the directional subbands of the host image without degrading its perceptibility. The experimental results show robustness against several common watermarking attacks such as compression, adding noise, filtering, and geometrical transformations. Since the proposed approach can embed considerable payload, while providing good perceptual transparency and resistance to many attacks, it is a suitable algorithm for fingerprinting applications.

Robust Image Watermarking Using Adaptive Structure Based Wavelet Tree Quantization

This work presents a novel robust wavelet-tree-based watermarking method based on structure-based quantization. Wavelet-trees are arranged into super-trees. The watermark bits are then embedded into the super-trees by using the proposed structure-based quantization method. Next, the super-trees are quantized into a significant structure according to these bits. The quantized super-tree has a stronger statistical characteristic than the unquantized super-tree. Based on this characteristic, the watermark bits could be extracted robustly after an image distortion attack. Finally, an adaptive method is developed to raise the PSNR value. Compared with Wang et al. [17] method, the proposed adaptive method increases PSNR about 5.83 dB. The proposed method also has a higher maximum number of watermark bits than other methods, thus increasing the capacity for embedding. Besides, its computation load is low. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed watermarking method using adaptive structure-based wavelet-tree quantization performs well in JPEG compression, filtering (Gaussian filter, median filter and sharpen) and geometric attacks (pixel shifting and rotation). In addition, it is very robust against multiple watermark attacks.

A flexible H.264/AVC compressed video watermarking scheme using particle swarm optimization based dither modulation

Due to the explosion of data sharing on the Internet and the ultimate use of digital media, especially digital video clips, there is great interest by digital video owners in video security and copyright protection. In this paper, a flexible particle swarm optimization (PSO) based dither modulation (DM) watermarking scheme in H.264/AVC compressed video is proposed. Its robustness, against the commonly employed watermarking attacks described in literature, is illustrated. The watermark imperceptibility and video quality also need to be taken into consideration, hence, a PSO is employed for optimizing the conflicting requirements. In addition to focusing on improving the robustness of the new watermarking scheme, the imperceptibility is enhanced by applying PSO, which keeps checking the objective function, including both factors. The proposed scheme allows users to add or drop diverse watermarking attacks for optimization and the effectiveness of this scheme is verified through a series of experiments.

A Fragile Watermarking Scheme for Image Authentication with Tamper Localization Using Integer Wavelet Transform

Problem statement: In recent years, as digital media are gaining wider popularity, their security related issues are becoming greater concern. Method for authenticating and assuring the integrity of the image is required. Image authentication is possible by embedding a layer of the authentication signature into the digital image using a digital watermark. In some applications tamper localization is also required. Approach: In this study, we proposed a fragile image authentication system with tamper localization in wavelet domain. In this scheme, secret data to be embedded is a logo. Watermark was generated by repeating logo image so that size of watermark matches with the size of HH sub-band of integer wavelet transform. To provide additional level of security, the generated watermark was scrambled using a shared secret key. Integer Haar wavelet transform was applied to obtain wavelet coefficients. Watermark was embedded into the coefficients using odd-even mapping. Results: Experimental results demonstrated that proposed scheme detected and localized tampering at pixel level. Proposed scheme was tested with images of various sizes and tampering of various sizes. It provided good results for tamperings ranges from single pixel to a block of pixels. Conclusion: Watermarking was done in wavelet domain; conventional watermarking attacks were not possible. The resolution of tamper localization was achieved at pixel level. The watermarked image's quality was still maintained while providing pixel-level tampering accuracy. Proposed scheme can be used in insurance, forensics departments.

A secure digital camera architecture for integrated real-time digital rights management

This paper presents a novel concept of a secure digital camera (SDC) with a built-in watermarking and encryption facility. The motivation is to facilitate real-time digital rights management (DRM) by using the SDC right at the source end of multimedia content. The emerging field of DRM systems addresses the issues related to the intellectual-property rights of digital content. The use of digital watermarking along with encryption for effective DRM is proposed. In this context, a novel discrete cosine transform domain invisible-robust watermarking method that uses cryptography and watermarking methods simultaneously to provide a double-layer of protection to digital media is presented. The proposed method securely hides binary images in color image media and securely extracts and authenticates it by using a secret key. Experimental results prove that the proposed technique is resilient to stringent watermarking attacks. Hence, it is an effective method for providing protection of ownership rights. The corresponding application-specific architectures for invisible-robust watermarking and Rijndael advanced encryption standard (AES) towards the prototyping of the SDC are presented. The proposed architectures are modeled and synthesized for field programmable gate array (FPGA). The soft cores in the form of hardware description language resulting from this research can serve as intellectual-property core and can be integrated with any multimedia-producing electronic appliances which are built as embedded systems using system-on-a-chip (SoC) technology.

A new digital watermarking scheme for 3D triangular mesh models

This paper proposes a new watermarking scheme for three-dimensional (3D) triangular mesh models. In this new scheme, feature points from the rapid changing regions are used to uniquely partition a 3D mesh model into Voronoi patches. Each Voronoi patch is then projected to a reference square plane and the corresponded range image is generated. By employing the existing two-dimensional (2D) image watermarking algorithms, watermark information is embedded into the transform domain of each range image. The watermarked 3D mesh model is obtained by perturbing the vertexes of each patch according to its watermarked range image. In order to make the watermarking scheme robust against various forms of attacks while preserving the perceptibility of the model, the length of the watermark information, the number of the feature points and the embedding strength of the watermark are made adaptive with respect to the geometry complexity of the 3D mesh models. Experimental results show that the proposed watermarking scheme has good imperceptibility and performs well under common 3D watermarking attacks such as mesh simplification, adding noise and cropping.

Reversible and Blind Database Watermarking Using Difference Expansion

There has been significant research in the field of database watermarking recently. However, there has not been sufficient attention given to the requirement of providing reversibility (the ability to revert back to original relation from watermarked relation) and blindness (not needing the original relation for detection purpose) at the same time. This model has several disadvantages over reversible and blind watermarking (requiring only the watermarked relation and secret key from which the watermark is detected and the original relation is restored) including the inability to identify the rightful owner in case of successful secondary watermarking, the inability to revert the relation to the original data set (required in high precision industries) and the requirement to store the unmarked relation at a secure secondary storage. To overcome these problems, we propose a watermarking scheme that is reversible as well as blind. We utilize difference expansion on integers to achieve reversibility. The major advantages provided by our scheme are reversibility to a high quality original data set, rightful owner identification, resistance against secondary watermarking attacks, and no need to store the original database at a secure secondary storage. We have implemented our scheme and results show the success rate is limited to 11% even when 48% tuples are modified.

Performance analysis of chaotic and white watermarks in the presence of common watermark attacks

Digital watermarking is a technique that aims to embed a piece of information permanently into some digital media, which may be used at a later stage to prove owner authentication and attempt to provide protection to documents. The most common watermark types used to date are pseudorandom number sequences which possess a white spectrum. Chaotic watermark sequences have been receiving increasing interest recently and have been shown to be an alternative to the pseudorandom watermark types. In this paper the performance of pseudorandom watermarks and chaotic watermarks in the presence of common watermark attacks is performed. The chaotic watermarks are generated from the iteration of the skew tent map, the Bernoulli map and the logistic map. The analysis focuses on the watermarked images after they have been subjected to common image distortion attacks. The capacities of each of these images are also calculated. It is shown that signals generated from lowpass chaotic signals have superior performance over the other signal types analysed for the attacks studied.