A data hiding method based on information sharing via PNG images for applications of color image authentication and metadata embedding

A new data hiding method via PNG images based on Shamir's (k, n)-threshold secret sharing scheme is proposed. The coefficients of the polynomial used by the Shamir's method are taken as carriers to carry given data. The data to be hidden then are transformed into partial shares and embedded into the alpha-channel plane of a cover PNG image. Undesired white noise created in the resulting stego-image is removed by skillfully mapping the computed share values into suitable ranges in the embedding process. An important application of the proposed method to color image authentication is also proposed, with detailed authentication algorithms for PNG images presented. Compared with existing methods, the proposed image authentication method possesses the merits of losslessness during image authentication, high sensitivity to image alterations, good tampering localization capability, and very low false acceptance and rejection ratios. Experimental results proving the effectiveness of the proposed methods are also included.

[1]  CHEONG HEE PARK,et al.  Detection of an Emerging New Class Using Statistical Hypothesis Testing and Density Estimation , 2010, Int. J. Pattern Recognit. Artif. Intell..

[2]  Cheng-Hsing Yang,et al.  Adaptive Data Hiding in Edge Areas of Images With Spatial LSB Domain Systems , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security.

[3]  Yuan-Pei Lin,et al.  Wavelet tree quantization for copyright protection watermarking , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing.

[4]  Yulin Wang,et al.  Blind image data hiding based on self reference , 2004, Pattern Recognit. Lett..

[5]  Sung-Cheal Byun,et al.  A public-key based watermarking for color image authentication , 2002, Proceedings. IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo.

[6]  Wenbo Liu,et al.  Color image authentication based on spatiotemporal chaos and SVD , 2008 .

[7]  Yongjian Hu,et al.  DE-Based Reversible Data Hiding With Improved Overflow Location Map , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology.

[8]  Mauro Barni,et al.  A general framework for robust watermarking security , 2003, Signal Process..

[9]  Adi Shamir,et al.  How to share a secret , 1979, CACM.

[10]  Hae-Yeoun Lee,et al.  Reversible data hiding exploiting spatial correlation between sub-sampled images , 2009, Pattern Recognit..

[11]  Che-Wei Lee,et al.  A Secret-Sharing-Based Method for Authentication of Grayscale Document Images via the Use of the PNG Image With a Data Repair Capability , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing.

[12]  Kumar Parasuraman,et al.  Reversible image watermarking using interpolation technique , 2014, 2014 International Conference on Electronics, Communication and Computational Engineering (ICECCE).

[13]  Xuelong Li,et al.  Lossless Data Embedding Using Generalized Statistical Quantity Histogram , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology.

[14]  Somkait Udomhunsakul,et al.  Objective Performance of Compressed Image Quality Assessments , 2007 .

[15]  Chun-Shien Lu,et al.  Multipurpose watermarking for image authentication and protection , 2001, IEEE Trans. Image Process..

[16]  Mei-Yi Wu,et al.  Reversible data-hiding method for palette-based images , 2008 .

[17]  Wen-Hsiang Tsai,et al.  A New Steganographic Method for Data Hiding in Microsoft Word Documents by a Change Tracking Technique , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security.

[18]  Ja-Chen Lin,et al.  Reversible JPEG-Based Hiding Method with High Hiding-Ratio , 2010, Int. J. Pattern Recognit. Artif. Intell..

[19]  Xuelong Li,et al.  A local Tchebichef moments-based robust image watermarking , 2009, Signal Process..

[20]  Thierry Pun,et al.  Rotation, scale and translation invariant spread spectrum digital image watermarking , 1998, Signal Process..

[21]  Chi-Man Pun,et al.  A Novel DFT-based Digital Watermarking System for Images , 2006, 2006 8th international Conference on Signal Processing.

[22]  J. Mielikainen.  LSB matching revisited , 2006, IEEE Signal Processing Letters.

[23]  Nien-Lin Hsueh,et al.  A lossless data hiding scheme based on three-pixel block differences , 2008, Pattern Recognit..

[24]  Wen-Hsiang Tsai,et al.  A new approach to covert communication via PDF files , 2010, Signal Process..

[25]  Walter Bender,et al.  Techniques for data hiding , 1995, Electronic Imaging.

[26]  Xuelong Li,et al.  Robust Reversible Watermarking via Clustering and Enhanced Pixel-Wise Masking , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing.

[27]  Che-Wei Lee,et al.  Optimal pixel-level self-repairing authentication method for grayscale images under a minimax criterion of distortion reduction , 2012 .

[28]  Chun-Shien Lu,et al.  Mean-quantization-based fragile watermarking for image authentication , 2001 .

[29]  Thierry Pun,et al.  Robust template matching for affine resistant image watermarks , 2000, IEEE Trans. Image Process..

[30]  Chang-Chou Lin,et al.  Secret image sharing with steganography and authentication , 2004, J. Syst. Softw..