Protection-Enhanced Watermarking Scheme Combined With Non-Linear Systems

Watermarking has become a crucial technique for protecting copyright and verifying the authenticity of images due to the rapid distribution of digital images and the ease and reliability of image content modification. In this research, we introduce a hybrid digital picture watermarking method that is both secure and resilient. This would use the discrete wavelet transform (DWT), the discrete cosine transforms (DCT), singular value decomposition (SVD), and cryptographic systems such as RSA and chaotic maps. Hence, this method tries to balance the tradeoff of robustness, security, and imperceptibility. We first encrypt the watermark using RSA, and then a chaotic logistic map (CLM) scrambles the already designed encrypted watermark to further enhance its robustness. By putting the watermark in the host image's separately calculated DWT-DCT coefficients, the proposed method works well even when compression, noise addition filtering, and geometric attacks are used. The test results demonstrate that the suggested method does better than other methods in Structural Similarity Index (SSIM), Normalized Correlation (NC), and Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR). Regardless of the nature of the attack, our proposed method consistently generates PSNR values above 55 dB and NC values above to 0.90, indicating correct watermark extraction and excellent image perception. We use cryptographic methods to secure the watermark from retrieval and modification by unauthenticated users. In addition, our approach is superior to the current watermarking methods in robustness and unobtrusiveness. In further works, we plan to improve the robustness of the approach against more complex geometric attacks and apply it for watermarking video and 3D content.

Secure image transmission is one of the most challenging problems in the age of communication technology. Millions of people use and transfer images for either personal or commercial purposes over the internet. One way of achieving secure image transmission over the network is encryption techniques that convert the original image into a non-understandable or scrambled form, called a cipher image, so that even if the attacker gets access to the cipher they would not be able to retrieve the original image. In this study, chaos-based image encryption and block cipher techniques are implemented and analyzed for image encryption. Arnold cat map in combination with a logistic map are used as native chaotic and hybrid chaotic approaches respectively whereas advanced encryption standard (AES) is used as a block cipher approach. The chaotic and AES methods are applied to encrypt images and are subjected to measures of different performance parameters such as peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR), number of pixels change rate (NPCR), unified average changing intensity (UACI), and histogram and computation time analysis to measure the strength of each algorithm. The results show that the hybrid chaotic map has better NPCR and UACI values which makes it more robust to differential attacks or chosen plain text attacks. The Arnold cat map is computationally efficient in comparison to the other two approaches. However, AES has a lower PSNR value (7.53 to 11.93) and has more variation between histograms of original and cipher images, thereby indicating that it is more resistant to statistical attacks than the other two approaches.

The present scenario of the medical field is that sending the healthcare images through the internet is so far exposed to security threats. Hence, there is a need for an efficient and secure procedure to exchange healthcare images over the Internet. The Digital Image and Communication in Medicine (DICOM) provides security features for image header information but not for the pixel information. Hence to send the pixel information in a highly secured manner, the pixels need to be encrypted by using a suitable encryption algorithm. The number of pixel changing rate (NPCR) and the unified averaged changed intensity (UACI) are well-known encryption evaluation metrics to analyse the differential attack in image encryption. These two values are used to calculate the average number of pixel changes and intensity changes between two encrypted images before and after modifying any one pixel in a plaintext image respectively. If these two values are high, then the image encryption can resist the differential attacks. In this paper, a theoretical value of NPCR and UACI are computed for DICOM image encryption concerning different significant levels. An encryption algorithm with Gould transform, RC5, logistic map and DNA Diffusion is proposed for DICOM image to increase the NPCR, and UACI value and this method offered an efficient security strategy for DICOM pixel information. Finally, the computed theoretical value of NPCR and UACI are compared with the existing and proposed algorithm.

The usage of multimedia data has grown exponentially over the past few decades, with a significant portion of its content in the form of images and videos, which are transmitted across various public networks. As the prevalence of video content continues to rise, so does the critical need for enhanced data security. Recently, several techniques have been proposed to create efficient data security procedures, focusing on security, robustness and computational complexity. This paper proposes a secure and robust video encryption technique based on the concepts of confusion and diffusion. During the confusion phase, horizontal and vertical permutations of pixel values are performed using a permutation box and then pixel values are substituted based on a lookup table. In the diffusion phase, the pixel values of the first frame are XORed with a defined box, and then, sequentially, the pixel values in the remaining frames are XORed using the previous frame as a reference. Each stage requires keys for processing that are generated by three different chaotic logistic maps, which successfully passed the NIST test. These numbers are then XORed to implement a multi‐chaotic logistic map effectively. Simulation metrics, including entropy, correlation, NPCR, UACI, and so forth demonstrate the strength of the proposed method. The result analysis also states that the proposed methodology performs well in terms of Quantitative Security Analysis Correlation Analysis 0.0017, Entropy Analysis 7.99, Peak Signal to Noise Ratio 7.898, Mean Square Error 10549.37, Structural Similarity Index (0.0075), Key Space Analysis (), Differential Attack Analysis (Number of Pixel Change Rate 99.61 and Unified Average Change Intensity 33.46), Robustness Analysis (Salt and Paper Noise (pass), Gaussian Noise (pass), Occlusion Attack (pass) and Execution Time Analysis θ ( n )).

Cellular automata based color image watermarking using non sub sampled contourlet transform (NSCT) and singular value decomposition (SVD) is presented in this paper. Game of life (GOL) cellular automata is used to scramble binary watermark so that no one can recover the watermark without secret scrambling keys. Because of the salient features like multiscale, multidirection and shift invariance of NSCT, 2-level NSCT is applied to red, green and blue component of RGB cover image. Most of the perceptual content of an image focuses on low frequency subband of NSCT and the singular values taken from low frequency subband have certain stability. So a modest change in the singular values taken from low frequency subband of NSCT is applicable. In this proposed scheme, each singular value of scrambled binary watermark is embedded in fixed location of singular value matrix of low frequency subbands of NSCT of red, green and blue components. The scheme offers security, imperceptibility and robustness against various image processing and geometric attacks like Gaussian white noise, salt and pepper noise, median filtering, JPEG compression, cropping and rotation. The proposed scheme is compared with existing watermarking schemes in terms of Peak Signal to Noise ratio (PSNR), Normalized Correlation (NC)and provides satisfactory performance than other schemes.

In this paper, an improved digital watermarking scheme combined with multi-level discrete cosine transform (DCT), discrete wavelet transform (DWT), and singular value decomposition (SVD) is proposed. To improve the security of the watermark, the encrypted watermark is acquired by Arnold transform before watermark embedding. The proposed scheme is proved to be robust, and its performance is evaluated with respect to the normalized correlation (NC) and peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR). The robustness of the proposed scheme is also evaluated under different attacks which include salt and pepper noise, Gaussian noise, and other attacks. The experimental results are also conducted to verify the effect of false positive problem which exists in most watermarking schemes based on SVD.

Watermarking is crucial for protecting medical images, guaranteeing data integrity and authenticity in telemedicine, especially for rural healthcare facilities with limited computational power. This paper introduces a lightweight watermarking scheme that performs a comparative study of Lifting Wavelet Transform (LWT) versus Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), both combined with Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), to achieve optimal imperceptibility, robustness, and computational efficiency. The comparison of LWT and DWT is essential because LWT has lower computational complexity and memory usage, hence more appropriate for resource-limited environments than DWT, and without the use of Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) to further reduce processing requirements and improve compatibility with low-power devices. The suggested approach adopts adaptive embedding against texture complexity, secure synchronization patterns with m-sequences and Barker codes, and geometric correction utilizing ORB for guaranteed watermark extraction under attacks from JPEG compression, Gaussian noise attack, rotation attack, median filter attack, and Gaussian blur. A new error correction code interleaved with majority voting is employed to increase the watermark’s strength. Tested at various embedding strengths, the scheme attains Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) values over 40 dB and Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) values above 0.95, signifying extremely little visual degradation. Low Bit Error Rates (BER) and high Normalized Correlation (NC) in various attack scenarios validate its success. This computational-friendly solution is designed to arm remote healthcare organizations with limited computer ability to reliably authenticate and attest to medical images, meeting severe telemedicine demands.

In this proposed work, a dual image watermarking algorithm is used to protect the data against copyright violations. In this work, the DICOM image is used as a host image. Two watermark images used are the MNNIT logo and the personal data of the patient. This method utilizes the advantages of Schur decomposition, lifting wavelet transform (LWT), discrete cosine transform (DCT) and singular value decomposition (SVD). The scaling factor is a vital parameter of watermarking technique. The firefly optimization technique is used to get the optimized scaling factor. The Speeded-up robust features (SURF) are used for watermarking authentication. To evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), normalized correlation coefficient (NCC), and structural similarity index measurement (SSIM) are used. The proposed method is tested against various attacks such as Salt and Pepper noise, Gaussian noise, Gaussian low pass filter, Average filter, Median filter, Histogram equalization, Sharpening, Rotation and Region of interest filtering. The proposed algorithm shows a high level of robustness and imperceptibility. It is found that the features of the input host image and the watermarked image are matching correctly on applying the SURF technique.

Digital watermarking provides the solution for problems such as copyright and authentication in today’s digital world of communication. Trustworthy watermarking techniques should provide the protection for rightful ownership, robustness and resist against attacks such as filtering and modification. In this paper, we proposed an efficient watermarking scheme based on singular value decomposition (SVD) and quantum Hilbert image scrambling. In the proposed watermarking scheme, first watermark is scrambled using quantum Hilbert image scrambling then perform alpha blending on scrambled watermark and SVD transformed cover image followed by alpha mixing operation. Finally, perform SVD operation of the generated signal; after alpha blending operation, we get watermarked image. The experimental results show strength of the proposed technique in terms of the robustness and security. Performance of the proposed scheme is tested on different image quality parameters of watermarked and host image. These are peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), mean square error (MSE) and normalized cross-correlation (NCC), average difference (AD), maximum difference (MD), and structural contents (SC).KeywordsSingular value decompositionWatermarkQuantum Hilbert image scramblingSteganography

The widespread use of images, especially color images and rapid advancement of computer science, have led to an emphasis on securing these images and defending them against intruders. One of the most popular ways to protect images is to use encryption algorithms that convert data in a way that is not recognized by someone other than the intended user. The Advanced Encryption Standard algorithm (AES) is one of the most protected encryption algorithms. However, due to various types of theoretical and practical assaults, like a statistical attack, differential analysis, and brute force attack, its security is under attack.
 In this paper, a modified AES coined as (M-AES) is proposed to improve the efficiency of the AES algorithm by increasing the algorithm's security to make the algorithm more suitable for color image encryption, and make it more resistant to many attacks. The modification is conducted on ShiftRows transformation of the original AES algorithm. To test the efficiency of the proposed M-AES algorithm, several images are drawn from the Signal and Image Processing Institute's (SIPI) image dataset. Moreover, the Mean Square Error (MSE), Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR), Entropy (H), Correlation Coefficient (CC), visual evaluation of histogram, Number of Pixels Change Rate (NPCR) and Unified Average Changing Intensity (UACI) are used as an evaluation metric. The results show that proposed modification to the AES algorithm makes the algorithm more appropriate to image and surpasses the original AES. 
 The modification is conducted on ShiftRows step of the original AES algorithm. To test the efficiency of the proposed M-AES algorithm, several images are drawn from the signal and image processing institute's (SIPI) image dataset. Moreover, the mean square error (MSE), peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), entropy (H), correlation coefficient (CC), visual evaluation of histogram, number of pixels change rate (NPCR) and unified average changing intensity (UACI) are used as an evaluation metrics. The results show that the suggested modification to AES makes it's more appropriate to the image and surpasses the original AES.

In this paper, a new robust and secure video watermarking scheme based on discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), singular value decomposition (SVD), and Laplacian pyramid is proposed for copyright protection applications. The main contributions of this work are: 1) Increasing watermark robustness towards common signal processing attacks by separating the watermark image into a high-frequency image and a low-frequency image using laplacian pyramid. Then, the singular values of each of the low-frequency watermark image and the high-frequency watermark image are hidden in two different DWT subbands of the original video frame. Separating the watermark and hiding its two parts in two different subbands of the DWT of the video frame makes it robust towards noise, filtering, and compression attacks. 2) Improving the quality of the extracted watermarks via correcting the received watermarked videos using SURF points when those videos are geometrically attacked, mainly by rotation, scaling, and shear attacks. 3) Increasing security and avoiding false positive problems (FPP) associated with SVD by using perceptual image hashing in the proposed scheme. Through experimental results and comparisons to other techniques, the proposed scheme has shown very high imperceptibility for the tested watermarked videos in terms of peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR). Also, the proposed scheme has demonstrated high watermark robustness towards various types of attacks, and an improvement in the quality of the extracted watermarks from 4 to 20 dB compared to other techniques.

Image watermarking plays a major role in the field of communication. Applying the watermarking on the symbol provides higher imperceptibility and robustness properties with cover data help. Thus, various implementations are focused on non-blind watermarking (NBW) schemes combined with various transformations to perform this watermarking. The NBW methods do not have the accurate functionality to provide the maximum imperceptibility, embedding capacity standards, and the lack of robustness, respectively. Thus, to overcome these problems, this article focuses on implementing the proposed watermarking framework that utilizes the singular value decomposition (SVD), discrete cosine transform (DCT), and redundant discrete wavelet transform (RDWT) jointly, so the properties of the threes methods function together and give the higher performance. The proposed RDWT-DCT-SVD watermarking scheme simulated and compared for the various quality metrics such as normalized correlation coefficient (NCC), root means square error (RMSE), and peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR). Comparing the various existing methods shows that the proposed method gives higher imperceptibility and robustness properties.KeywordsSingular value decompositionDiscrete cosine transformRedundant discrete wavelet transformBlind watermarking

Aiming at the problem of digital image encryption, an image encryption algorithm is proposed. The algorithm is divided into preparation stage and permutation diffusion stage. In the preparation stage, Arnold algorithm is improved and combined with Logistic chaotic map to generate the necessary sequence for the next stage. In the permutation diffusion stage, the final encrypted image is obtained by permutation, positive XOR operation, shift operation, S-box substitution and reverse XOR operation. The experimental results show that the algorithm can effectively resist the common attacks. For the 128 × 128 Lena gray image, the resistance performance number of pixel change rate (NPCR) is 99.6090, unified average changing intensity (UACI) is 33.4316. In addition, the time consumption of the algorithm is about 0.0055 s, and the experiments show that the algorithm has high security and real-time performance.

Security and authentication of the people information is effectively provided through various watermarking algorithms. Most of the conventional watermarking algorithms have their own drawbacks in maintaining the quality and security of the image against various attacks. In order to overcome the above stated issues, a watermarking technique based on optimization is required for preserving image quality. In this paper, singular value decomposition (SVD) based digital image watermarking (DIW) scheme is proposed in hybrid discrete cosine transform (DCT) and discrete wavelet transform (DWT) using optimization algorithms like particle swarm optimization (PSO) and Jaya algorithm. The watermark image (WI) is embedded into low frequency DWT sub-band of DCT of cover image. PSO and Jaya algorithms are applied to improve the security threats and quality by assessing the fitness function. The work involves in utilizing the feature points in embedding of watermarks and analyzing the impact of various types of attacks with respect to image quality. The performance parameters like peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR), Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) and correlation coefficient of fitness function given by PSO and Jaya algorithm.

This study introduces a cutting-edge image encryption algorithm aimed at elevating security standards. The Pan-Tompkins Algorithm (PTA) for key generation is proposed for the first time in this study. Additionally, employing steganography through the Least Significant Bit (LSB) method for embedding keys within the encrypted image enhances secure key distribution, thereby fortifying the encryption process. On the other hand, the integration of advanced algorithms, such as Zigzag scanning, the Affine Image Encryption Algorithm (AA), and the Vigenere Image Encryption Algorithm (VA), constitutes the fundamental innovation of the proposed image encryption algorithm. The proposed algorithm is named PanAAVA:Affine Algorithm and Vigenere Algorithm Encryption with PTA-Based Key Generation. The PanAAVA algorithm ensures unparalleled security by encrypting the positions and values of pixels using AA and VA. Notably, using PTA for key generation marks a distinctive and new key generation method feature of the algorithm. To assess the effectiveness of the PanAAVA, a comprehensive comparative analysis is conducted against well-established encryption methodologies, including Lena, Baboon, Airplane, and Pepper.The PanAAVA demonstrates exceptional proficiency in histogram analysis. The PanAAVA demonstrates a Unified Average Changing Intensity (UACI) of 33.4044%. Additionally, the Number of Pixels Change Rate (NPCR) is measured at 99.7442%, showcasing the algorithm’s effectiveness in inducing significant pixel changes. The proposed algorithm’s Mean Square Error (MSE) is calculated at 3.20679E5%. The proposed algorithm’s Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) is recorded at 9.512475. The Key Space Size of the proposed algorithm is measured at 2209. Regarding correlation analysis, the PanAAVA achieves a high correlation score of 7.9996. The proposed algorithm successfully passes the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) analysis, demonstrating a remarkably strong correlation close to 0 and a Structural Similarity Index Measure (SSIM) of 0.9977. Furthermore, regarding quantum communication, the proposed algorithm maintains stable key rates of 47.5 ± 0.8 kHz during the day and 50.9 ± 0.7 kHz at night. Additionally, PanAAVA achieves low Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER) values of 4.77 ± 0.02, ensuring reliable and secure communication. The PanAAVA also demonstrates robust asymmetries at 49.81 ± 0.02 and 50.14 ± 0.03 for a crystal length of 20 mm. highlighting PanAAVA’s adaptability and effectiveness in different scenarios. PanAAVA outperforms other encryption algorithms concerning performance measurements and comparisons. In conclusion, the PanAAVA emerges as a beacon of superior security capabilities and innovation in image encryption, showcasing the potential to redefine standards in the field.