Fast watermarking of MPEG-1/2 streams using compressed-domain perceptual embedding and a generalized correlator detector

A novel technique is proposed for watermarking of MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 compressed video streams. The proposed scheme is applied directly in the domain of MPEG-1 system streams and MPEG-2 program streams (multiplexed streams). Perceptual models are used during the embedding process in order to avoid degradation of the video quality. The watermark is detected without the use of the original video sequence. A modified correlation-based detector is introduced that applies nonlinear preprocessing before correlation. Experimental evaluation demonstrates that the proposed scheme is able to withstand several common attacks. The resulting watermarking system is very fast and therefore suitable for copyright protection of compressed video

Robust Object-Based Watermarking Using SURF Feature Matching and DFT Domain

In this paper we propose a robust object-based watermarking method, in which the watermark is embedded into the middle frequencies band of the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) magnitude of the selected object region, altogether with the Speeded Up Robust Feature (SURF) algorithm to allow the correct watermark detection, even if the watermarked image has been distorted. To recognize the selected object region after geometric distortions, during the embedding process the SURF features are estimated and stored in advance to be used during the detection process. In the detection stage, the SURF features of the distorted image are estimated and match them with the stored ones. From the matching result, SURF features are used to compute the Affine-transformation parameters and the object region is recovered. The quality of the watermarked image is measured using the Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR), Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) and the Visual Information Fidelity (VIF). The experimental results show the proposed method provides robustness against several geometric distortions, signal processing operations and combined distortions. The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves also show the desirable detection performance of the proposed method. The comparison with a previously reported methods based on different techniques is also provided

Chaos-based robust method of zero-watermarking for medical signals

The growing use of wireless health data transmission via Internet of Things is significantly beneficial to the healthcare industry for optimal usage of health-related facilities. However, at the same time, the use raises concern of privacy protection. Health-related data are private and should be suitably protected. Several pathologies, such as vocal fold disorders, indicate high risks of prevalence in individuals with voice-related occupations, such as teachers, singers, and lawyers. Approximately, one-third of the world population suffers from the voice-related problems during the life span and unauthorized access to their data can create unavoidable circumstances in their personal and professional lives. In this study, a zero-watermarking method is proposed and implemented to protect the identity of patients who suffer from vocal fold disorders. In the proposed method, an image for a patient's identity is generated and inserted into secret keys instead of a host medical signal. Consequently, imperceptibility is naturally achieved. The locations for the insertion of the watermark are determined by a computation of local binary patterns from the time–frequency spectrum. The spectrum is calculated for low frequencies such that it may not be affected by noise attacks. The experimental results suggest that the proposed method has good performance and robustness against noise, and it is reliable in the recovery of an individual's identity

Framework for privacy-aware content distribution in peer-to- peer networks with copyright protection

The use of peer-to-peer (P2P) networks for multimedia distribution has spread out globally in recent years. This mass popularity is primarily driven by the efficient distribution of content, also giving rise to piracy and copyright infringement as well as privacy concerns. An end user (buyer) of a P2P content distribution system does not want to reveal his/her identity during a transaction with a content owner (merchant), whereas the merchant does not want the buyer to further redistribute the content illegally. Therefore, there is a strong need for content distribution mechanisms over P2P networks that do not pose security and privacy threats to copyright holders and end users, respectively. However, the current systems being developed to provide copyright and privacy protection to merchants and end users employ cryptographic mechanisms, which incur high computational and communication costs, making these systems impractical for the distribution of big files, such as music albums or movies.El uso de soluciones de igual a igual (peer-to-peer, P2P) para la distribución multimedia se ha extendido mundialmente en los últimos años. La amplia popularidad de este paradigma se debe, principalmente, a la distribución eficiente de los contenidos, pero también da lugar a la piratería, a la violación del copyright y a problemas de privacidad. Un usuario final (comprador) de un sistema de distribución de contenidos P2P no quiere revelar su identidad durante una transacción con un propietario de contenidos (comerciante), mientras que el comerciante no quiere que el comprador pueda redistribuir ilegalmente el contenido más adelante. Por lo tanto, existe una fuerte necesidad de mecanismos de distribución de contenidos por medio de redes P2P que no supongan un riesgo de seguridad y privacidad a los titulares de derechos y los usuarios finales, respectivamente. Sin embargo, los sistemas actuales que se desarrollan con el propósito de proteger el copyright y la privacidad de los comerciantes y los usuarios finales emplean mecanismos de cifrado que implican unas cargas computacionales y de comunicaciones muy elevadas que convierten a estos sistemas en poco prácticos para distribuir archivos de gran tamaño, tales como álbumes de música o películas.L'ús de solucions d'igual a igual (peer-to-peer, P2P) per a la distribució multimèdia s'ha estès mundialment els darrers anys. L'àmplia popularitat d'aquest paradigma es deu, principalment, a la distribució eficient dels continguts, però també dóna lloc a la pirateria, a la violació del copyright i a problemes de privadesa. Un usuari final (comprador) d'un sistema de distribució de continguts P2P no vol revelar la seva identitat durant una transacció amb un propietari de continguts (comerciant), mentre que el comerciant no vol que el comprador pugui redistribuir il·legalment el contingut més endavant. Per tant, hi ha una gran necessitat de mecanismes de distribució de continguts per mitjà de xarxes P2P que no comportin un risc de seguretat i privadesa als titulars de drets i els usuaris finals, respectivament. Tanmateix, els sistemes actuals que es desenvolupen amb el propòsit de protegir el copyright i la privadesa dels comerciants i els usuaris finals fan servir mecanismes d'encriptació que impliquen unes càrregues computacionals i de comunicacions molt elevades que fan aquests sistemes poc pràctics per a distribuir arxius de grans dimensions, com ara àlbums de música o pel·lícules

Robust Watermarking Using FFT and Cordic QR Techniques

Digital media sharing and access in today’s world of the internet is very frequent for every user. The management of digital rights may come into threat easily as the accessibility of data through the internet become wide. Sharing digital information under security procedures can be easily compromised due to the various vulnerabilities floating over the internet. Existing research has been tied to protecting internet channels to ensure the safety of digital data. Researchers have investigated various encryption techniques to prevent digital rights management but certain challenges including external potential attacks cannot be avoided that may give unauthorized access to digital media. The proposed model endorsed the concept of watermarking in digital data to uplift media security and ensure digital rights management. The system provides an efficient procedure to conduct over-watermarking in digital audio signals and confirm the avoidance of ownership of the host data. The proposed technique uses a watermark picture as a signature that has been initially encrypted with Arnold's cat map and cyclic encoding before being embedded. The upper triangular R-matrix component of the energy band was then created by using the Fast Fourier transform and Cordic QR procedures to the host audio stream. Using PN random sequences, the encrypted watermarking image has been embedded in the host audio component of the R-matrix. The same procedure has been applied to extract the watermark image from the watermarked audio. The proposed model evaluates the quality of the watermarked audio and extracted watermark image. The average PSNR of the watermarked audio is found to be 37.01 dB. It has also been seen that the average PSNR, Normal cross-correlation, BER, SSMI (structure similarity index matric) value for the extracted watermark image is found to be 96.30 dB, 0.9042 units, 0.1033 units, and 0.9836 units respectively. Further, the model has been tested using various attacks to check its robustness. After applying attacks such as noising, filtering, cropping, and resampling on the watermarked audio, the watermark image has been extricated and its quality has been checked under the standard parameters. It has been found that the quality of the recovered watermark image satisfying enough to justify the digital ownership of the host audio. Hence, the proposed watermarking model attains a perfect balance between imperceptibility, payload, and robustness