Watermarking for multimedia security using complex wavelets

This paper investigates the application of complex wavelet transforms to the field of digital data hiding. Complex wavelets offer improved directional selectivity and shift invariance over their discretely sampled counterparts allowing for better adaptation of watermark distortions to the host media. Two methods of deriving visual models for the watermarking system are adapted to the complex wavelet transforms and their performances are compared. To produce improved capacity a spread transform embedding algorithm is devised, this combines the robustness of spread spectrum methods with the high capacity of quantization based methods. Using established information theoretic methods, limits of watermark capacity are derived that demonstrate the superiority of complex wavelets over discretely sampled wavelets. Finally results for the algorithm against commonly used attacks demonstrate its robustness and the improved performance offered by complex wavelet transforms

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

A robust image watermarking technique based on quantization noise visibility thresholds

International audienceA tremendous amount of digital multimedia data is broadcasted daily over the internet. Since digital data can be very quickly and easily duplicated, intellectual property right protection techniques have become important and first appeared about fifty years ago (see [I.J. Cox, M.L. Miller, The First 50 Years of Electronic Watermarking, EURASIP J. Appl. Signal Process. 2 (2002) 126-132. [52]] for an extended review). Digital watermarking was born. Since its inception, many watermarking techniques have appeared, in all possible transformed spaces. However, an important lack in watermarking literature concerns the human visual system models. Several human visual system (HVS) model based watermarking techniques were designed in the late 1990's. Due to the weak robustness results, especially concerning geometrical distortions, the interest in such studies has reduced. In this paper, we intend to take advantage of recent advances in HVS models and watermarking techniques to revisit this issue. We will demonstrate that it is possible to resist too many attacks, including geometrical distortions, in HVS based watermarking algorithms. The perceptual model used here takes into account advanced features of the HVS identified from psychophysics experiments conducted in our laboratory. This model has been successfully applied in quality assessment and image coding schemes M. Carnec, P. Le Callet, D. Barba, An image quality assessment method based on perception of structural information, IEEE Internat. Conf. Image Process. 3 (2003) 185-188, N. Bekkat, A. Saadane, D. Barba, Masking effects in the quality assessment of coded images, in: SPIE Human Vision and Electronic Imaging V, 3959 (2000) 211-219. In this paper the human visual system model is used to create a perceptual mask in order to optimize the watermark strength. The optimal watermark obtained satisfies both invisibility and robustness requirements. Contrary to most watermarking schemes using advanced perceptual masks, in order to best thwart the de-synchronization problem induced by geometrical distortions, we propose here a Fourier domain embedding and detection technique optimizing the amplitude of the watermark. Finally, the robustness of the scheme obtained is assessed against all attacks provided by the Stirmark benchmark. This work proposes a new digital rights management technique using an advanced human visual system model that is able to resist various kind of attacks including many geometrical distortions

Secure Watermarking for Multimedia Content Protection: A Review of its Benefits and Open Issues

Distribution channels such as digital music downloads, video-on-demand, multimedia social networks, pose new challenges to the design of content protection measures aimed at preventing copyright violations. Digital watermarking has been proposed as a possible brick of such protection systems, providing a means to embed a unique code, as a fingerprint, into each copy of the distributed content. However, application of watermarking for multimedia content protection in realistic scenarios poses several security issues. Secure signal processing, by which name we indicate a set of techniques able to process sensitive signals that have been obfuscated either by encryption or by other privacy-preserving primitives, may offer valuable solutions to the aforementioned issues. More specifically, the adoption of efficient methods for watermark embedding or detection on data that have been secured in some way, which we name in short secure watermarking, provides an elegant way to solve the security concerns of fingerprinting applications. The aim of this contribution is to illustrate recent results regarding secure watermarking to the signal processing community, highlighting both benefits and still open issues. Some of the most interesting challenges in this area, as well as new research directions, will also be discussed

Oblivious data hiding : a practical approach

This dissertation presents an in-depth study of oblivious data hiding with the emphasis on quantization based schemes. Three main issues are specifically addressed: 1. Theoretical and practical aspects of embedder-detector design. 2. Performance evaluation, and analysis of performance vs. complexity tradeoffs. 3. Some application specific implementations. A communications framework based on channel adaptive encoding and channel independent decoding is proposed and interpreted in terms of oblivious data hiding problem. The duality between the suggested encoding-decoding scheme and practical embedding-detection schemes are examined. With this perspective, a formal treatment of the processing employed in quantization based hiding methods is presented. In accordance with these results, the key aspects of embedder-detector design problem for practical methods are laid out, and various embedding-detection schemes are compared in terms of probability of error, normalized correlation, and hiding rate performance merits assuming AWGN attack scenarios and using mean squared error distortion measure. The performance-complexity tradeoffs available for large and small embedding signal size (availability of high bandwidth and limitation of low bandwidth) cases are examined and some novel insights are offered. A new codeword generation scheme is proposed to enhance the performance of low-bandwidth applications. Embeddingdetection schemes are devised for watermarking application of data hiding, where robustness against the attacks is the main concern rather than the hiding rate or payload. In particular, cropping-resampling and lossy compression types of noninvertible attacks are considered in this dissertation work

TTP-free Asymmetric Fingerprinting based on Client Side Embedding

In this paper, we propose a solution for implementing an asymmetric fingerprinting protocol within a client-side embedding distribution framework. The scheme is based on two novel client-side embedding techniques that are able to reliably transmit a binary fingerprint. The first one relies on standard spread-spectrum like client-side embedding, while the second one is based on an innovative client-side informed embedding technique. The proposed techniques enable secure distribution of personalized decryption keys containing the Buyer's fingerprint by means of existing asymmetric protocols, without using a trusted third party. Simulation results show that the fingerprint can be reliably recovered by using either non-blind decoding with standard embedding or blind decoding with informed embedding, and in both cases it is robust with respect to common attacks. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed scheme is the first solution addressing asymmetric fingerprinting within a clientside framework, representing a valid solution to both customer's rights and scalability issues in multimedia content distributio

High Dynamic Range Image Watermarking Robust Against Tone-Mapping Operators

High dynamic range (HDR) images represent the future format for digital images since they allow accurate rendering of a wider range of luminance values. However, today special types of preprocessing, collectively known as tone-mapping (TM) operators, are needed to adapt HDR images to currently existing displays. Tone-mapped images, although of reduced dynamic range, have nonetheless high quality and hence retain some commercial value. In this paper, we propose a solution to the problem of HDR image watermarking, e.g., for copyright embedding, that should survive TM. Therefore, the requirements imposed on the watermark encompass imperceptibility, a certain degree of security, and robustness to TM operators. The proposed watermarking system belongs to the blind, detectable category; it is based on the quantization index modulation (QIM) paradigm and employs higher order statistics as a feature. Experimental analysis shows positive results and demonstrates the system effectiveness with current state-of-art TM algorithms