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

Application of Steganography for Anonymity through the Internet

In this paper, a novel steganographic scheme based on chaotic iterations is proposed. This research work takes place into the information hiding security framework. The applications for anonymity and privacy through the Internet are regarded too. To guarantee such an anonymity, it should be possible to set up a secret communication channel into a web page, being both secure and robust. To achieve this goal, we propose an information hiding scheme being stego-secure, which is the highest level of security in a well defined and studied category of attacks called "watermark-only attack". This category of attacks is the best context to study steganography-based anonymity through the Internet. The steganalysis of our steganographic process is also studied in order to show it security in a real test framework.Comment: 14 page

Content Fragile Watermarking for H.264/AVC Video Authentication

Discrete Cosine transform (DCT) to generate the authentication data that are treated as a fragile watermark. This watermark is embedded in the motion vectors (MVs) The advances in multimedia technologies and digital processing tools have brought with them new challenges for the source and content authentication. To ensure the integrity of the H.264/AVC video stream, we introduce an approach based on a content fragile video watermarking method using an independent authentication of each Group of Pictures (GOPs) within the video. This technique uses robust visual features extracted from the video pertaining to the set of selected macroblocs (MBs) which hold the best partition mode in a tree-structured motion compensation process. An additional security degree is offered by the proposed method through using a more secured keyed function HMAC-SHA-256 and randomly choosing candidates from already selected MBs. In here, the watermark detection and verification processes are blind, whereas the tampered frames detection is not since it needs the original frames within the tampered GOPs. The proposed scheme achieves an accurate authentication technique with a high fragility and fidelity whilst maintaining the original bitrate and the perceptual quality. Furthermore, its ability to detect the tampered frames in case of spatial, temporal and colour manipulations, is confirmed

Development Of A Robust Blind Digital Video Watermarking Algorithm Using Discrete Wavelet Transform

Video watermarking technology enables us to hide an imperceptible, robust, and secure data in digital or analog video. This data can be used for tracking, fingerprinting, copyright infringement detection or any other application that requires some hidden data. Video watermarking can be achieved by either applying still image technologies to each frame of the movie or by using dedicated methods which exploit inherent features of the video sequence. There is a complex trade-off between three requirements in digital watermarking: robustness against noise and attacks, imperceptibility or invisibility, and capacity, which represent the amount of data, i.e., the number of bits encoded by the watermark. However, these three requirements conflict with each other. Increasing the watermark strength makes the system more robust but unfortunately decreases the perceptual quality. Whereas, increasing the capacity of the watermark decreases the robustness.In the production chain, video compression is usually applied before broadcasting or before transferring the video to other devices. In order to be robust against format conversions, the watermark has to be inserted before compression. Therefore, uncompressed video format has been used in the research undertaken. On the other hand, a random key is used to choose the frames to be watermarked to increase the security level of the algorithm and discourage piracy. The aim of this research is to develop a video watermarking algorithm to embed a binary image inside the uncoded video stream that acts as a logo. A mid-band discrete wavelet transform coefficients of the selected frames are chosen to be the hosted region in the frequency domain. An inverse transformation should be taken in order to get the desired watermarked video shot. In extraction process the watermark is extracted from the marked video directly without access to the original video. The experiment results showed that the proposed scheme provides better quality watermarked videos in term of watermark invisibility to human eyes. Results also indicated that obtaining average peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) equals 41.59dB as compared with 38.48dB in the case of direct embedding. In addition, the scheme is robust against video processing operations, such as MPEG compression which could be successfully recovered. In conclusion, modifying the wavelet coefficients depending only on the logo object's pixels highly improve the invisibility and at the same time providing a good robustness level

A Study on Invisible Digital Image and Video Watermarking Techniques

Digital watermarking was introduced as a result of rapid advancement of networked multimedia systems. It had been developed to enforce copyright technologies for cover of copyright possession. This technology is first used for still images however recently they need been developed for different multimedia objects like audio, video etc. Watermarking, that belong to the information hiding field, has seen plenty of research interest. There's a lot of work begin conducted in numerous branches in this field. The image watermarking techniques might divide on the idea of domain like spatial domain or transform domain or on the basis of wavelets. The copyright protection, capacity, security, strength etc are a number of the necessary factors that are taken in account whereas the watermarking system is intended. This paper aims to produce a detailed survey of all watermarking techniques specially focuses on image watermarking types and its applications in today’s world

Using digital watermarking to enhance security in wireless medical image transmission

This is the published version of the article. Copyright 2010 Mary Ann Liebert Inc.During the last few years, wireless networks have been increasingly used both inside hospitals and in patients’ homes to transmit medical information. In general, wireless networks suffer from decreased security. However, digital watermarking can be used to secure medical information. In this study, we focused on combining wireless transmission and digital watermarking technologies to better secure the transmission of medical images within and outside the hospital. Methods: We utilized an integrated system comprising the wireless network and the digital watermarking module to conduct a series of tests. Results: The test results were evaluated by medical consultants. They concluded that the images suffered no visible quality degradation and maintained their diagnostic integrity. Discussion: The proposed integrated system presented reasonable stability, and its performance was comparable to that of a fixed network. This system can enhance security during the transmission of medical images through a wireless channel.The General Secretariat for Research and Technology of the Hellenic Ministry of Development and the British Council