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In most of the digital image watermarking schemes, it becomes a common practice to address security in terms of robustness, which is basically a norm in cryptography. Such consideration in developing and evaluation of a watermarking scheme may severely affect the performance and render the scheme ultimately unusable. This paper provides an explicit...
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... scenario or vice versa . This suggests that individual considerations on robustness and security are required both in developing and evaluating a watermarking scheme. IV. D IRECTIONS FOR W ATERMARKING S ECURITY AND R OBUSTNESS A SSESSMENT Developing an individual framework is necessary for digital image watermarking in order to evaluate the required robustness and security in a particular application. Robustness can be evaluated by the conventional approach provided that the set of all applicable processes are carefully considered. Particularly, one needs to take into account all the applicable image/signal processing techniques/transforms that cause distortions to assess the required degree of robustness in the application scenario. Similarly, for the required security, one needs to carefully consider different types of attacks that can thwart the watermarking objectives. If one develops a watermarking scheme robust enough to any distortions and assumes that the scheme would be secure against any attack, then from our earlier analyses, we can say that the scheme may be secure only against those attacks that cause malicious distortions. As illustrated in fig. 2(a), it is not necessary for all attacks to cause distortions to an attacked (watermarked) image in order to circumvent the watermarking purpose(s). Rather, an attacker can achieve the target without introducing any noticeable distortions, for example, keeping the attacked image perceptually similar to the original/watermarked image or, sometimes, without applying any processing directly on the image. These types of attacks on the scheme can be left unattended, if the security is only considered to be achieved in terms of robustness. After reviewing different types of attacks as discussed in [7], we outline the watermarking security in terms of attacks as shown in fig. 3. According to fig. 3 and our perception demonstrated in previous section, it can be stated that being completely robust, a watermarking scheme may be secure against various distortion attacks (marked as grey-shaded boxes) in the category of unauthorized removal. However, the scheme can still suffer various security problems from other active, passive and system attacks. In summary, an improper consideration on the requirements and incomplete assessment of those two parameters may lead to various eventual technical flaws and system vulnerabilities, and thus, security concerns may arise. Therefore, for both robustness and security, one should have thorough considerations on their requirements in developing and evaluating a watermarking technique for a particular application. Nevertheless, like those two parameters, all other system design and performance evaluation parameters are required to be identified, defined, and assessed properly during the design and development of the technique. V. C ONCLUSIONS In this paper, we discussed and analysed a fundamental problem in the realization of watermarking security and robustness. We started with figuring out the problem status in various individual watermarking schemes developed so far. With the help of statistical analysis, we demonstrated the research status and general trends of those two particular directions in watermarking research. The analyses help realize that even having the similar importance, one parameter is receiving more attention than the other. Thus, the lesser attention to the security problems suggests the wrong perception on the watermarking security, which has been continuously influenced by the original assumption we discussed in the beginning of this paper. Moreover, in order to explore how addressing security requirements in terms of achieving robustness leads to an inadequate assessment for a digital image watermarking scheme, we posed a key question in the problem domain. A theoretical analysis is then presented considering respective set of requirements for security against attacks, and robustness to distortions. Thereby, we successfully demonstrated that neither security nor robustness can completely counteract each other. This realization imposes individual and careful considerations for the both parameters, not only in developing a watermarking scheme but also in its assessment to be complete. Finally, we presented some necessary directions to developing a complete framework for evaluating both parameters. We believe the realization, analyses, and directions presented in this paper will promote necessary awareness of robustness and security considerations in both developing and evaluating a watermarking schemes in future research. Since there is no existing general framework appropriate for a complete assessment of the parameters for our future work, we expect to develop such frameworks for the parameters in a digital image application. R ...
Context 2
... scenario or vice versa . This suggests that individual considerations on robustness and security are required both in developing and evaluating a watermarking scheme. IV. D IRECTIONS FOR W ATERMARKING S ECURITY AND R OBUSTNESS A SSESSMENT Developing an individual framework is necessary for digital image watermarking in order to evaluate the required robustness and security in a particular application. Robustness can be evaluated by the conventional approach provided that the set of all applicable processes are carefully considered. Particularly, one needs to take into account all the applicable image/signal processing techniques/transforms that cause distortions to assess the required degree of robustness in the application scenario. Similarly, for the required security, one needs to carefully consider different types of attacks that can thwart the watermarking objectives. If one develops a watermarking scheme robust enough to any distortions and assumes that the scheme would be secure against any attack, then from our earlier analyses, we can say that the scheme may be secure only against those attacks that cause malicious distortions. As illustrated in fig. 2(a), it is not necessary for all attacks to cause distortions to an attacked (watermarked) image in order to circumvent the watermarking purpose(s). Rather, an attacker can achieve the target without introducing any noticeable distortions, for example, keeping the attacked image perceptually similar to the original/watermarked image or, sometimes, without applying any processing directly on the image. These types of attacks on the scheme can be left unattended, if the security is only considered to be achieved in terms of robustness. After reviewing different types of attacks as discussed in [7], we outline the watermarking security in terms of attacks as shown in fig. 3. According to fig. 3 and our perception demonstrated in previous section, it can be stated that being completely robust, a watermarking scheme may be secure against various distortion attacks (marked as grey-shaded boxes) in the category of unauthorized removal. However, the scheme can still suffer various security problems from other active, passive and system attacks. In summary, an improper consideration on the requirements and incomplete assessment of those two parameters may lead to various eventual technical flaws and system vulnerabilities, and thus, security concerns may arise. Therefore, for both robustness and security, one should have thorough considerations on their requirements in developing and evaluating a watermarking technique for a particular application. Nevertheless, like those two parameters, all other system design and performance evaluation parameters are required to be identified, defined, and assessed properly during the design and development of the technique. V. C ONCLUSIONS In this paper, we discussed and analysed a fundamental problem in the realization of watermarking security and robustness. We started with figuring out the problem status in various individual watermarking schemes developed so far. With the help of statistical analysis, we demonstrated the research status and general trends of those two particular directions in watermarking research. The analyses help realize that even having the similar importance, one parameter is receiving more attention than the other. Thus, the lesser attention to the security problems suggests the wrong perception on the watermarking security, which has been continuously influenced by the original assumption we discussed in the beginning of this paper. Moreover, in order to explore how addressing security requirements in terms of achieving robustness leads to an inadequate assessment for a digital image watermarking scheme, we posed a key question in the problem domain. A theoretical analysis is then presented considering respective set of requirements for security against attacks, and robustness to distortions. Thereby, we successfully demonstrated that neither security nor robustness can completely counteract each other. This realization imposes individual and careful considerations for the both parameters, not only in developing a watermarking scheme but also in its assessment to be complete. Finally, we presented some necessary directions to developing a complete framework for evaluating both parameters. We believe the realization, analyses, and directions presented in this paper will promote necessary awareness of robustness and security considerations in both developing and evaluating a watermarking schemes in future research. Since there is no existing general framework appropriate for a complete assessment of the parameters for our future work, we expect to develop such frameworks for the parameters in a digital image application. R ...
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Citations
... Nowadays, the necessity of copyright protection in digital media has led to a massive growth in the field of digital watermarking, where researchers are motivated to devise innovative solutions for ownership protection [7,38]. ...
In this paper, an analysis on hybrid Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) for image watermarking is carried out to investigate the effect of a deeper level of the SVD on imperceptibility and robustness to resist common signal processing and geometric attacks. For this purpose, we have designed two hybrid watermarking schemes, the first one with DWT and first level of SVD, whereas, in the second scheme, the same design is employed with a second level of SVD. In this experiment, a comprehensive analysis is performed on the two designed schemes and the effect of robustness and imperceptibility is compared in the first and second levels of SVD in each DWT sub-band. Having analyzed more than 100 medical and non-medical images in standard datasets and real medical samples of patients, the experimental outcomes show a remarkable increase in both imperceptibility and robustness in the second level of SVD, in comparison to the first level. In addition, the achieved result shows that the SVD2 scheme offers the highest imperceptibility in the LL sub-band (more than 60 dB on average PSNR), with satisfactory robustness against noise attacks, but less persistence in some geometric attacks such as cropping. For the HH sub-band, strong robustness against all types of tested of attacks is obtained, though its imperceptibility is slightly lower than the achieved PSNR in the LL sub-band. In HH sub-band, an average growth of 5 dB in PSNR and 2% in NC can be observed from the second level of SVD in comparison to the first level. These results make SVD2 a good candidate for content protection, especially for medical images.
... Such geometrical attacks are not trying to remove the watermark, instead they try to distort the watermark detection system [6]. Robustness can also be a degree of which watermarking scheme can resist modifications of a host signal [7]. Other important quality of watermarking algorithm is imperceptibility. ...
Internet has affected our everyday life drastically. Expansive volumes of information are exchanged over the Internet consistently which causes numerous security concerns. Issues like content identification, document and image security, audience measurement, ownership, copyrights and others can be settled by using digital watermarking. In this work, robust and imperceptible nonblind color image watermarking algorithm is proposed, which benefit from the fact that watermark can be hidden in different color channel which results into further robustness of the proposed technique to attacks. Given method uses some algorithms such as entropy, discrete wavelet transform, Chirp z-transform, orthogonal-triangular decomposition and Singular value decomposition in order to embed the watermark in a color image. Many experiments are performed using well-known signal processing attacks such as histogram equalization, adding noise and compression. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme is imperceptible and robust against common signal processing attacks.
... Despite the continuing interest in developing new SAW schemes, disregard for their security analysis seems to impair their potential for the multimedia applications. One reason behind this disregard perhaps is the wrong consideration of active attacks [33,35]. SAW schemes are usually based on the fragile watermarking, where active attacks that directly alter image contents are usually ignored. ...
Although the Self-Authentication Watermarking (SAW) schemes are promising to tackle the multimedia information assurance problem, their unknown security level seems to impair their potential. In this paper, we identify three new counterfeiting attacks on those schemes and present their countermeasure. We develop, analyse, and validate the models of the identified attacks followed by the development of a new SAW model to resist those attacks. The identified attack models generalize three main security levels that capture all the possible counterfeiting instances. We focus on the block-wise dependent fragile watermarking schemes, and their general weaknesses. Experimental results successfully demonstrate the practicality and consequences of the identified attacks in exploiting those weaknesses to maliciously and undetectably alter valid watermarked images. To resist the identified attacks, we further determine a set of general requirements for SAW schemes and illustrate their attainment in developing an extended SAW model. While the identified attack models can be used as a means to systematically examine the security levels of similar SAW schemes, the extended SAW model may lead to developing their more secure variants. Our study has also revealed some open challenges in the development and formal analysis of SAW schemes.
... Secret keys act a very significant role in watermarking schemes, the keys not only provide security but they can also influence robustness of watermarking systems. Watermarking scheme is defined as robust if the detector can successfully detect the watermark in processed image [4].On the other hand, watermarking security is defined as the ability of the watermark to withstand against different types of attacks [4]. SVD 1 is one of the most useful tools in linear algebra with several applications in image compression, watermarking, and other signal processing areas [5]. ...
... Secret keys act a very significant role in watermarking schemes, the keys not only provide security but they can also influence robustness of watermarking systems. Watermarking scheme is defined as robust if the detector can successfully detect the watermark in processed image [4].On the other hand, watermarking security is defined as the ability of the watermark to withstand against different types of attacks [4]. SVD 1 is one of the most useful tools in linear algebra with several applications in image compression, watermarking, and other signal processing areas [5]. ...
Digital watermarking is widely used to verify the authenticity or integrity of multimedia contents, such as images and videos. In the last few years, a well-known numerical tool called singular value decomposition (SVD) has received much attention from the watermarking community. Designers of SVD-based schemes usually use dewatermarking tools such as Stirmark to prove the robustness of their schemes. Although, these tools are valuable but their attacks usually reduce the quality of watermarked images. On the other hand, there is another group of attacks in which the attacker needs to know the watermarking algorithm to perform the attack. In this paper, an attack in this group has been designed to remove the watermark from a specific SVD-based watermarking scheme [1]. The attack tries to change the exact space where watermark has been embedded. The experiments show our attack makes fewer changes to remove embedded watermark than other distortions available in Stirmark, so the quality of attacked image is better than processed image by using Stirmark in terms of PSNR.
... Watermark security refers to its resistance to unauthorized detecting and decoding, while robustness refers to a watermark's resistance against common processing, such as filtering, geometrical transforms and compression. A survey on watermarking research shows that many watermarking schemes give consideration to robustness more than security [3]. However, a robust watermark is not enough to accomplish protection because the range of hostile attacks is not limited to common processing and distortions. ...
... For each element of spec W , its coordinate ) , ( j i is served as the initial value and iterated using equation (3). After n iterations, the result ) , ( ...
Security of a watermark refers to its resistance to unauthorized detecting and decoding, while watermark robustness refers to the watermark's resistance against common processing. Many watermarking schemes emphasize robustness more than security. However, a robust watermark is not enough to accomplish protection because the range of hostile attacks is not limited to common processing and distortions. In this paper, we give consideration to watermark security. To achieve this, we employ chaotic maps due to their extreme sensitivity to the initial values. If one fails to provide these values, the watermark will be wrongly extracted. While the chaotic maps provide perfect watermarking security, the proposed scheme is also intended to achieve robustness.
... Robustness in watermarking is often confused with its meaning from cryptography [61]. A main reason is probably that watermarking has to consider some spatial or perceptual properties (e.g., perceptual similarity, visibility). ...
... It is worth noting that, in our earlier work [2,61], we aimed at avoiding any confusion between the robustness and security properties, and considered that a processed image is not perceptually similar to its unprocessed version. That consideration was based on the assumption that only an adversary may want to process a valid watermarked image to achieve the perceptual similarity requirements. ...
... Although the requirements for robustness and security properties of a watermarking scheme may overlap [61], they need to be considered separately. For security properties, in contrast to robustness, all possible attacks that an adversary may attempt within a particular scenario are to be studied. ...
While formal definitions and security proofs are well established in some fields like cryptography and steganography, they are not as evident in digital watermarking research. A systematic development of watermarking schemes is desirable, but at present their development is usually informal, ad hoc, and omits the complete realization of application scenarios. This practice not only hinders the choice and use of a suitable scheme for a watermarking application, but also leads to debate about the state-of-the-art for different watermarking applications. With a view to the systematic development of watermarking schemes, we present a formal generic model for digital image watermarking. Considering possible inputs, outputs, and component functions, the initial construction of a basic watermarking model is developed further to incorporate the use of keys. On the basis of our proposed model, fundamental watermarking properties are defined and their importance exemplified for different image applications. We also define a set of possible attacks using our model showing different winning scenarios depending on the adversary capabilities. It is envisaged that with a proper consideration of watermarking properties and adversary actions in different image applications, use of the proposed model would allow a unified treatment of all practically meaningful variants of watermarking schemes.
... B. Litow is with James Cook University, Australia (email: bruce.litow@jcu.edu.au) ISBN: 978-0-9803267-6-5 on watermarking research shows that many watermarking schemes give consideration to robustness more than security [3]. However, a robust watermark is not enough to accomplish protection because the range of hostile attacks is not limited to common processing and distortions. ...
Security of a watermark refers to its resistance to unauthorized detecting and decoding, while watermark ro-bustness refers to the watermark's resistance against common processing. Many watermarking schemes emphasize robustness more than security. However, a robust watermark is not enough to accomplish protection because the range of hostile attacks is not limited to common processing and distortions. In this paper, we give consideration to watermark security. To achieve this, we employ chaotic maps due to their extreme sensitivity to the initial values. If one fails to provide these values, the watermark will be wrongly extracted. While the chaotic maps provide perfect watermarking security, the proposed scheme is also intended to achieve robustness.
... Robustness has become a common practice in most of the digital image watermarking schemes; it becomes a common practice to address security. Such consideration in developing and evaluation of a watermarking scheme may severely affect the performance and render the scheme ultimately unusable [26]. Robustness, even if recognized as a key property of the digital watermarking, is not considered enough to prove the ownership of images [27] but rather test the watermarking algorithm against various types of attacks [28]. ...
The high increase in the transmission of digital data over secured and unsecured communications channels poses a lot of security and privacy concerns to both the transmitter and the receiver. Many operations engaged today in urban and warfare, be they for construction, monitory of plants, high voltage lines, military, police, fire service, intelligence etc. engages the use of surveillance systems that transmit sensitive data to and fro the command centre to the remote areas and this data in transmission needs to be secured. In this paper, we proposed a hybrid cryptographic and digital watermarking technique for securing digital images based on a Generated Symmetric Key. The cryptographic encryption technique made use of both pixel displacement and pixel encryption in securing the images that are to be stored or transmitted across secured and unsecured communications. The digital watermarking technique was used to authenticate the image. The programming and implementation was done using MATLAB.
... While interest in developing image authentication schemes is evident, concerns about their security level are remaining [14]. Although robust watermarking security has been studied in some seminal works [1,10,17], we focus here on its counterpart-fragile watermarking security. ...
In this paper, we present three counterfeiting attacks on the block-wise dependent fragile watermarking schemes. We consider vulnerabilities such as the exploitation of a weak correlation among block-wise dependent watermarks to modify valid watermarked images, where they could still be verified as authentic, though they are actually not. Experimental results successfully demonstrate the practicability and consequences of the proposed attacks for some relevant schemes. The development of the proposed attack models can be used as a means to systematically examine the security levels of similar watermarking schemes.
... Robustness is an important parameter for the watermarking detector defined in different ways [75]. Robustness, basically, is defined as the degree of resistance of a watermarking scheme to modifications of the host signal due to either common signal processing, or operations devised specifically in order to render the watermark undetectable [76]. ...
Teleradiology allows medical images to be transmitted over electronic networks for clinical interpretation and for improved healthcare access, delivery, and standards. Although such remote transmission of the images is raising various new and complex legal and ethical issues, including image retention and fraud, privacy, malpractice liability, etc., considerations of the security measures used in teleradiology remain unchanged. Addressing this problem naturally warrants investigations on the security measures for their relative functional limitations and for the scope of considering them further. In this paper, starting with various security and privacy standards, the security requirements of medical images as well as expected threats in teleradiology are reviewed. This will make it possible to determine the limitations of the conventional measures used against the expected threats. Furthermore, we thoroughly study the utilization of digital watermarking for teleradiology. Following the key attributes and roles of various watermarking parameters, justification for watermarking over conventional security measures is made in terms of their various objectives, properties, and requirements. We also outline the main objectives of medical image watermarking for teleradiology and provide recommendations on suitable watermarking techniques and their characterization. Finally, concluding remarks and directions for future research are presented.
