Showing papers on "Watermark published in 2005"

A Review of Audio Fingerprinting

Abstract: An audio fingerprint is a compact content-based signature that summarizes an audio recording. Audio Fingerprinting technologies have attracted attention since they allow the identification of audio independently of its format and without the need of meta-data or watermark embedding. Other uses of fingerprinting include: integrity verification, watermark support and content-based audio retrieval. The different approaches to fingerprinting have been described with different rationales and terminology: Pattern matching, Multimedia (Music) Information Retrieval or Cryptography (Robust Hashing). In this paper, we review different techniques describing its functional blocks as parts of a common, unified framework.

Authentication of Physical and Electronic Media Objects Using Digital Watermarks

Abstract: Digital watermark methods for encoding auxiliary data into a host signal are used to authenticate physical and electronic objects. One such method computes a content specific message dependent on the host signal, encodes the content specific message into a watermark signal, and embeds the watermark in the host signal such that the watermark signal is substantially imperceptible in the host signal. One specific implementation embeds data representing salient features of the host signal into the watermark. For example, for photo IDs, the method embeds the spatial location of salient features of the photo into the watermark. Another implementation computes a semi-sensitive hash of the host signal, such as a low pass filtering of the signal, and embeds the hash into the watermark. The watermark signal may be content dependent by making the watermark key dependent on some attribute of the signal in which the watermark is embedded. Another approach is to make the watermark key dependent on a user or an attribute of the user. Yet another approach is to use multiple watermark components and multiple watermark detection stages that help identify and screen out invalid watermark signals. Another digital watermarking method for authenticating a media object transforms a media signal to a frequency domain comprising an array of frequency coefficients. It selects a first set of frequency coefficients, and alters the selected first set of frequency coefficients so that values of the coefficients in the set correspond to a pattern. The pattern of the media signal is authenticated by comparing a pattern of the values of the frequency coefficients in the set with an expected pattern.

Digital watermarking robust to geometric distortions

Abstract: In this paper, we present two watermarking approaches that are robust to geometric distortions. The first approach is based on image normalization, in which both watermark embedding and extraction are carried out with respect to an image normalized to meet a set of predefined moment criteria. We propose a new normalization procedure, which is invariant to affine transform attacks. The resulting watermarking scheme is suitable for public watermarking applications, where the original image is not available for watermark extraction. The second approach is based on a watermark resynchronization scheme aimed to alleviate the effects of random bending attacks. In this scheme, a deformable mesh is used to correct the distortion caused by the attack. The watermark is then extracted from the corrected image. In contrast to the first scheme, the latter is suitable for private watermarking applications, where the original image is necessary for watermark detection. In both schemes, we employ a direct-sequence code division multiple access approach to embed a multibit watermark in the discrete cosine transform domain of the image. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the proposed watermarking schemes are robust to a wide range of geometric attacks.

Image adaptive watermarking using wavelet domain singular value decomposition

Abstract: In this letter, we propose a novel, yet simple, image-adaptive watermarking scheme for image authentication by applying a simple quantization-index-modulation process on wavelet domain singular value decomposition. Unlike the traditional wavelet-based watermarking schemes where the watermark bits are embedded directly on the wavelet coefficients, the proposed scheme is based on bit embedding on the singular value (luminance) of the blocks within wavelet subband of the original image. To improve the fidelity and the perceptual quality of the watermarked image and to enhance the security of watermarking, we model the adaptive quantization parameters based on the statistics of blocks within subbands. The scheme is robust against JPEG compression but extremely sensitive to malicious manipulation such as filtering and random noising. Watermark detection is efficient and blind in the sense only the quantization parameters but not the original image are required. The quantization parameters adaptive to blocks are vector quantized to reduce the watermarking overhead.

Multipurpose image watermarking algorithm based on multistage vector quantization

Abstract: The rapid growth of digital multimedia and Internet technologies has made copyright protection, copy protection, and integrity verification three important issues in the digital world. To solve these problems, the digital watermarking technique has been presented and widely researched. Traditional watermarking algorithms are mostly based on discrete transform domains, such as the discrete cosine transform, discrete Fourier transform (DFT), and discrete wavelet transform (DWT). Most of these algorithms are good for only one purpose. Recently, some multipurpose digital watermarking methods have been presented, which can achieve the goal of content authentication and copyright protection simultaneously. However, they are based on DWT or DFT. Lately, several robust watermarking schemes based on vector quantization (VQ) have been presented, but they can only be used for copyright protection. In this paper, we present a novel multipurpose digital image watermarking method based on the multistage vector quantizer structure, which can be applied to image authentication and copyright protection. In the proposed method, the semi-fragile watermark and the robust watermark are embedded in different VQ stages using different techniques, and both of them can be extracted without the original image. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm in terms of robustness and fragility.

A new approach for optimization in image watermarking by using genetic algorithms

Abstract: In this paper, the authors propose the spread spectrum image watermarking algorithm using the discrete multiwavelet transform. Performance improvement with respect to existing algorithms is obtained by genetic algorithms optimization. In the proposed optimization process, the authors search for parameters that consist of threshold values and the embedding strength to improve the visual quality of watermarked images and the robustness of the watermark. These parameters are varied to find the most suitable for images with different characteristics. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm yields a watermark that is invisible to human eyes and robust to various image manipulations. The authors also compare their experimental results with the results of previous work using various test images.

Comments on "An SVD-based watermarking scheme for protecting rightful Ownership"

Abstract: In a recent paper by Tan and Liu , a watermarking algorithm for digital images based on singular value decomposition (SVD) is proposed. This comment demonstrates that this watermarking algorithm is fundamentally flawed in that the extracted watermark is not the embedded watermark but determined by the reference watermark. The reference watermark generates the pair of SVD matrices employed in the watermark detector. In the watermark detection stage, the fact that the employed SVD matrices depend on the reference watermark biases the false positive detection rate such that it has a probability of one. Hence, any reference watermark that is being searched for in an arbitrary image can be found. Both theoretical analysis and experimental results are given to support our conclusion.

Robust embedding of visual watermarks using discrete wavelet transform and singular value decomposition

Abstract: Protection of digital multimedia content has become an increasingly important issue for content owners and service providers. As watermarking is identified as a major technology to achieve copyright protection, the relevant literature includes several distinct approaches for embedding data into a multimedia element. Because of its growing popularity, the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) is commonly used in recent watermarking schemes. In a DWT-based scheme, the DWT coefficients are modified with the data that represents the watermark. We present a hybrid nonblind scheme based on DWT and singular value decomposition (SVD). After decomposing the cover image into four bands (LL, HL, LH, and HH, where L stands for lowpass and H stands for highpass), we apply the SVD to each band, and modify the singular values of the cover image with the singular values of the visual watermark. Modification in all frequencies enables the development of a watermarking scheme that is robust to a wide range of attacks. We compare our hybrid algorithm with a pure SVD-based scheme, and show that it is considerably more robust and reliable.

Determining digital image origin using sensor imperfections

Abstract: In this paper, we demonstrate that it is possible to use the sensor’s pattern noise for digital camera identification from images. The pattern noise is extracted from the images using a wavelet-based denoising filter. For each camera under investigation, we first determine its reference noise, which serves as a unique identification fingerprint. This could be done using the process of flat-fielding, if we have the camera in possession, or by averaging the noise obtained from multiple images, which is the option taken in this paper. To identify the camera from a given image, we consider the reference pattern noise as a high-frequency spread spectrum watermark, whose presence in the image is established using a correlation detector. Using this approach, we were able to identify the correct camera out of 9 cameras without a single misclassification for several hundred images. Furthermore, it is possible to perform reliable identification even from images that underwent subsequent JPEG compression and/or resizing. These claims are supported by experiments on 9 different cameras including two cameras of exactly same model (Olympus C765).

Robust DCT-SVD domain image watermarking for copyright protection: Embedding data in all frequencies

Abstract: Both Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) have been used as mathematical tools for embedding data into an image. In this paper, we present a new robust hybrid watermarking scheme based on DCT and SVD. After applying the DCT to the cover image, we map the DCT coefficients in a zig-zag order into four quadrants, and apply the SVD to each quadrant. These four quadrants represent frequency bands from the lowest to the highest. The singular values in each quadrant are then modified by the singular values of the DCT-transformed visual watermark. We assume that the size of the visual watermark is one quarter of the size of the cover image. We show that embedding data in lowest frequencies is resilient to one set of attacks while embedding data in highest frequencies is resilient to another set of attacks. We compare our hybrid algorithm with a pure SVD-based scheme.

Blind robust watermarking schemes for copyright protection of 3D mesh objects

Abstract: In this paper, two novel methods suitable for blind 3D mesh object watermarking applications are proposed. The first method is robust against 3D rotation, translation, and uniform scaling. The second one is robust against both geometric and mesh simplification attacks. A pseudorandom watermarking signal is cast in the 3D mesh object by deforming its vertices geometrically, without altering the vertex topology. Prior to watermark embedding and detection, the object is rotated and translated so that its center of mass and its principal component coincide with the origin and the z-axis of the Cartesian coordinate system. This geometrical transformation ensures watermark robustness to translation and rotation. Robustness to uniform scaling is achieved by restricting the vertex deformations to occur only along the r coordinate of the corresponding (r, /spl theta/, /spl phi/) spherical coordinate system. In the first method, a set of vertices that correspond to specific angles /spl theta/ is used for watermark embedding. In the second method, the samples of the watermark sequence are embedded in a set of vertices that correspond to a range of angles in the /spl theta/ domain in order to achieve robustness against mesh simplifications. Experimental results indicate the ability of the proposed method to deal with the aforementioned attacks.

Hidden messages in heavy-tails: DCT-domain watermark detection using alpha-stable models

Abstract: This paper addresses issues that arise in copyright protection systems of digital images, which employ blind watermark verification structures in the discrete cosine transform (DCT) domain. First, we observe that statistical distributions with heavy algebraic tails, such as the alpha-stable family, are in many cases more accurate modeling tools for the DCT coefficients of JPEG-analyzed images than families with exponential tails such as the generalized Gaussian. Motivated by our modeling results, we then design a new processor for blind watermark detection using the Cauchy member of the alpha-stable family. The Cauchy distribution is chosen because it is the only non-Gaussian symmetric alpha-stable distribution that exists in closed form and also because it leads to the design of a nearly optimum detector with robust detection performance. We analyze the performance of the new detector in terms of the associated probabilities of detection and false alarm and we compare it to the performance of the generalized Gaussian detector by performing experiments with various test images.

Compressed-domain video watermarking for H.264

Abstract: This paper presents a novel, low complexity watermarking algorithm for H.264 that exploits the specific features of this new standard. The security of the algorithm is based on the randomness of the watermark location. The coefficient with the embedded watermark within the macroblock is determined by a public key extracted from the macroblock and a secret key possessed by the copyright owner. It is proposed to use the relative change of the DC coefficients of the 4/spl times/4 blocks in a macroblock to generate the public key. The watermark is embedded in the quantized AC coefficients of I frames, and the compressed video bit rate is only increased 0.5% on average. Watermark detection can be done without the original video signal, and the algorithm is appropriate for real-time applications. Simulation results show that watermark embedding preserves the perceptual quality of the video. However, the degradation induced by an adversary's attempt to remove the watermark creates visible artifacts.

Behavioral synthesis techniques for intellectual property protection

Abstract: We introduce dynamic watermarking techniques for protecting the value of intellectual property of CAD and compilation tools and reusable design components. The essence of the new approach is the addition of a set of design and timing constraints which encodes the author's signature. The constraints are selected in such a way that they result in a minimal hardware overhead while embedding a unique signature that is difficult to remove and forge. Techniques are applicable in conjunction with an arbitrary behavioral synthesis task such as scheduling, assignment, allocation, transformation, and template matching.On a large set of design examples, studies indicate the effectiveness of the new approach that results in signature data that is highly resilient, difficult to detect and remove, and yet is easy to verify and can be embedded in designs with very low hardware overhead. For example, the probability that the same design with the embedded signature is obtained by any other designers by themselves is less than 1 in 10102, and no register overhead was incurred. The probability of tampering, the probability that part of the embedded signature can be removed by random attempts, is shown to be extremely low, and the watermark is additionally protected from such tampering with error-correcting codes.

Background watermark processing

Abstract: Various improvements to steganographic systems, and applications therefore, are disclosed. Among these are analyzing content data (e.g., audio, image data) in a computer memory automatically, without user intervention, so as to detect steganographically embedded information. The results of such analysis can be used to alter an aspect of the computer device's operation with respect to such content data. One application of the technology is to check the “clipboard” of a computer and alert the user when copyrighted material is found therein.

A novel scheme for hybrid digital video watermarking: approach, evaluation and experimentation

Abstract: We have seen an explosion of data exchange in the Internet and the extensive use of digital media. Consequently, digital data owners can quickly and massively transfer multimedia documents across the Internet. This leads to wide interest in multimedia security and multimedia copyright protection. We propose a novel hybrid digital video watermarking scheme based on the scene change analysis and error correction code. Our video watermarking algorithm is robust against the attacks of frame dropping, averaging and statistical analysis, which were not solved effectively in the past. We start with a complete survey of current watermarking technologies, and noticed that none of the existing schemes is capable of resisting all attacks. Accordingly, we propose the idea of embedding different parts of a single watermark into different scenes of a video. We then analyze the strengths of different watermarking schemes, and apply a hybrid approach to form a super watermarking scheme that can resist most of the attacks. To increase the robustness of the scheme, the watermark is refined by an error correcting code, while the correcting code is embedded as a watermark in the audio channel. It optimizes the quality of the watermarked video. The effectiveness of this scheme is verified through a series of experiments, in which a number of standard image processing attacks are conducted, and the robustness of our approach is demonstrated using the criteria of the latest StirMark test.

Statistical invisibility for collusion-resistant digital video watermarking

Abstract: We present a theoretical framework for the linear collusion analysis of watermarked digital video sequences, and derive a new theorem equating a definition of statistical invisibility, collusion-resistance, and two practical watermark design rules. The proposed framework is simple and intuitive; the basic processing unit is the video frame and we consider second-order statistical descriptions of their temporal inter-relationships. Within this analytical setup, we define the linear frame collusion attack, the analytic notion of a statistically invisible video watermark, and show that the latter is an effective counterattack against the former. Finally, to show how the theoretical results detailed in this paper can easily be applied to the construction of collusion-resistant video watermarks, we encapsulate the analysis into two practical video watermark design rules that play a key role in the subsequent development of a novel collusion-resistant video watermarking algorithm discussed in a companion paper.

Low visible digital watermarks

Abstract: The present invention relates to digital watermarking. In a preferred embodiment, media is embedded with one or more digital watermark components. The media includes a blue color plane, a red color plane and a green color plane. The digital watermark component is embedded in the blue color plane, and scaled versions of the digital watermark component are embedded in the red and green color planes. The scaling of component in the red and green color planes helps insure that luminance attributable to the blue color digital watermark component is reduced or offset. A related watermark detection scheme is disclosed.

An adaptive compressed MPEG-2 video watermarking scheme

Abstract: Digital watermarking is becoming more and more important for protecting the authenticity of multimedia objects as they become easier to copy, exchange, and modify. Several watermarking schemes have been proposed in recent years, but most of them deal with still images, only some being extended over to the temporal domain for video watermarking. But again most of those approaches are applied to uncompressed video processing domain. In the subject paper, a new compressed video watermarking procedure is proposed. The developed method embeds several binary images, decomposed from a single watermark image, into different scenes of a video sequence. The spatial spread spectrum watermark is embedded directly into the compressed bit streams by modifying discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficients. In order to embed the watermark with minimum loss in image fidelity, a visual mask based on local image characteristics is incorporated. Extensive experimental simulations demonstrate that the proposed watermarking scheme is substantially more effective and robust against spatial attacks such as scaling, rotation, frame averaging, and filtering, besides temporal attacks like frame dropping and temporal shifting.

Robust spatial watermarking technique for colour images via direct saturation adjustment

Abstract: Most colour watermarking methods are realised by modifying the image luminance or by processing each component of colour space separately This paper presents a novel and robust colour watermarking approach for applications in copy protection and digital archives The proposed scheme considers chrominance information that can be utilised at information embedding This work presents an approach for hiding the watermark into DC components of the colour image directly in the spatial domain, followed by a saturation adjustment technique performed in RGB space The merit of the proposed approach is that it not only provides promising watermarking performance but also is computationally efficient Experimental results demonstrate that this scheme successfully makes the watermark perceptually invisible and robust to image processing operations such as general image processing operations (JPEG2000, JPEG-loss compression, lowpass filtering, and medium filtering), image scaling and image cropping

Image correction apparatus and method, image correction database creating method, information data provision apparatus, image processing apparatus, information terminal, and information database apparatus

Abstract: A capturing unit captures and digitizes a printed image having an electronic watermark embedded therein and a lattice pattern image. A profile creation unit detects position deviations of intersections in the lattice pattern images captured at respective different zoom magnifications, generates correction information on distortion occurring in the images, and registers the correction information into a profile database in association with the zoom magnifications. An image correction unit selects correction information corresponding to a zoom magnification employed at the time of capturing of the printed image from the profile database, and corrects distortion occurring in the captured image of the printed image. An image area determination unit determines an original image area in the distortion-corrected captured image. A watermark extraction unit extracts watermark information from the original image area in the distortion-corrected captured image.

On the security of an SVD-based ownership watermarking

Abstract: This paper proposes a counterfeiting attack on an SVD-based ownership watermarking scheme. In the proposed attack, the adversary can claim the rightful ownership of any image by fabricating a bogus "original" image and meaningful logo. To defend against this attack, this paper proposes to generate the watermark from the original image and owner's logo with a one-way function.

Effectiveness of exhaustive search and template matching against watermark desynchronization

Abstract: By focusing on a simple example, we investigate the effectiveness of exhaustive watermark detection and resynchronization through template matching against watermark desynchronization. We find that if the size of the search space does not increase exponentially, both methods provide asymptotically good results. We also show that the exhaustive search approach outperforms template matching from the point of view of reliable detection.

A robust error concealment technique using data hiding for image and video transmission over lossy channels

Abstract: A robust error concealment scheme using data hiding which aims at achieving high perceptual quality of images and video at the end-user despite channel losses is proposed. The scheme involves embedding a low-resolution version of each image or video frame into itself using spread-spectrum watermarking, extracting the embedded watermark from the received video frame, and using it as a reference for reconstruction of the parent image or frame, thus detecting and concealing the transmission errors. Dithering techniques have been used to obtain a binary watermark from the low-resolution version of the image/video frame. Multiple copies of the dithered watermark are embedded in frequencies in a specific range to make it more robust to channel errors. It is shown experimentally that, based on the frequency selection and scaling factor variation, a high-quality watermark can be extracted from a low-quality lossy received image/video frame. Furthermore, the proposed technique is compared to its two-part variant where the low-resolution version is encoded and transmitted as side information instead of embedding it. Simulation results show that the proposed concealment technique using data hiding outperforms existing approaches in improving the perceptual quality, especially in the case of higher loss probabilities.

Watermark orientation signals conveying payload data

Abstract: Steganographic calibration signals (sometimes termed “orientation signals,” “marker signals,” reference signals,” “grid signals,” etc.) are sometimes included with digital watermarking signals so that subsequent distortion of the object thereby marked (e.g., a digital image file, audio clip, document, etc.) can later be discerned and compensated-for. Digital watermark detection systems sometimes fail if the object encompasses several separately-watermarked components (e.g., a scanned magazine page with several different images, or photocopy data resulting from scanning while several documents are on the photocopier platen). Each component may include its own calibration signal, confusing the detection system. In accordance with certain embodiments, this problem is addressed by a proximity-based approach, and/or a multiple grid-based approach. In accordance with other embodiments, the calibration signal can—itself—convey watermark information, so it serves both a calibration and a payload-conveyance function.

Geometric distortion-resilient image hashing scheme and its applications on copy detection and authentication

Abstract: Media hashing is an alternative approach to many applications previously accomplished with watermarking. The major disadvantage of the existing media hashing technologies is their limited resistance to geometric attacks. In this paper, a novel geometric distortion-invariant image hashing scheme, which can be employed to perform copy detection and content authentication of digital images, is proposed. Our major contributions are threefold: (i) a mesh-based robust hashing function is proposed; (ii) a sophisticated hash database for error-resilient and fast matching is constructed; and (iii) the application scalability of our scheme for content copy tracing and authentication is studied. In addition, we further investigate several media hashing issues, including robustness and discrimination, error analysis, and complexity, with respect to the proposed image hashing system. Exhaustive experimental results obtained from benchmark attacks confirm the excellent performance of the proposed method.