Ashwin Swaminathan

Robust and secure image hashing

Image hash functions find extensive applications in content authentication, database search, and watermarking. This paper develops a novel algorithm for generating an image hash based on Fourier transform features and controlled randomization. We formulate the robustness of image hashing as a hypothesis testing problem and evaluate the performance under various image processing operations. We show that the proposed hash function is resilient to content-preserving modifications, such as moderate geometric and filtering distortions. We introduce a general framework to study and evaluate the security of image hashing systems. Under this new framework, we model the hash values as random variables and quantify its uncertainty in terms of differential entropy. Using this security framework, we analyze the security of the proposed schemes and several existing representative methods for image hashing. We then examine the security versus robustness tradeoff and show that the proposed hashing methods can provide excellent security and robustness.

Digital image forensics via intrinsic fingerprints

Digital imaging has experienced tremendous growth in recent decades, and digital camera images have been used in a growing number of applications. With such increasing popularity and the availability of low-cost image editing software, the integrity of digital image content can no longer be taken for granted. This paper introduces a new methodology for the forensic analysis of digital camera images. The proposed method is based on the observation that many processing operations, both inside and outside acquisition devices, leave distinct intrinsic traces on digital images, and these intrinsic fingerprints can be identified and employed to verify the integrity of digital data. The intrinsic fingerprints of the various in-camera processing operations can be estimated through a detailed imaging model and its component analysis. Further processing applied to the camera captured image is modelled as a manipulation filter, for which a blind deconvolution technique is applied to obtain a linear time-invariant approximation and to estimate the intrinsic fingerprints associated with these postcamera operations. The absence of camera-imposed fingerprints from a test image indicates that the test image is not a camera output and is possibly generated by other image production processes. Any change or inconsistencies among the estimated camera-imposed fingerprints, or the presence of new types of fingerprints suggest that the image has undergone some kind of processing after the initial capture, such as tampering or steganographic embedding. Through analysis and extensive experimental studies, this paper demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed framework for nonintrusive digital image forensics.

Nonintrusive component forensics of visual sensors using output images

Rapid technology development and the widespread use of visual sensors have led to a number of new problems related to protecting intellectual property rights, handling patent infringements, authenticating acquisition sources, and identifying content manipulations. This paper introduces nonintrusive component forensics as a new methodology for the forensic analysis of visual sensing information, aiming to identify the algorithms and parameters employed inside various processing modules of a digital device by only using the device output data without breaking the device apart. We propose techniques to estimate the algorithms and parameters employed by important camera components, such as color filter array and color interpolation modules. The estimated interpolation coefficients provide useful features to construct an efficient camera identifier to determine the brand and model from which an image was captured. The results obtained from such component analysis are also useful to examine the similarities between the technologies employed by different camera models to identify potential infringement/licensing and to facilitate studies on technology evolution

Confidentiality-preserving rank-ordered search

This paper introduces a new framework for confidentiality preserving rank-ordered search and retrieval over large document collections. The proposed framework not only protects document/query confidentiality against an outside intruder, but also prevents an untrusted data center from learning information about the query and the document collection. We present practical techniques for proper integration of relevance scoring methods and cryptographic techniques, such as order preserving encryption, to protect data collections and indices and provide efficient and accurate search capabilities to securely rank-order documents in response to a query. Experimental results on the W3C collection show that these techniques have comparable performance to conventional search systems designed for non-encrypted data in terms of search accuracy. The proposed methods thus form the first steps to bring together advanced information retrieval and secure search capabilities for a wide range of applications including managing data in government and business operations, enabling scholarly study of sensitive data, and facilitating the document discovery process in litigation.

Enabling search over encrypted multimedia databases

Performing information retrieval tasks while preserving data confidentiality is a desirable capability when a database is stored on a server maintained by a third-party service provider. This paper addresses the problem of enabling content-based retrieval over encrypted multimedia databases. Search indexes, along with multimedia documents, are first encrypted by the content owner and then stored onto the server. Through jointly applying cryptographic techniques, such as order preserving encryption and randomized hash functions, with image processing and information retrieval techniques, secure indexing schemes are designed to provide both privacy protection and rank-ordered search capability. Retrieval results on an encrypted color image database and security analysis of the secure indexing schemes under different attack models show that data confidentiality can be preserved while retaining very good retrieval performance. This work has promising applications in secure multimedia management.

Secure image retrieval through feature protection

This paper addresses the problem of image retrieval from an encrypted database, where data confidentiality is preserved both in the storage and retrieval process. The paper focuses on image feature protection techniques which enable similarity comparison among protected features. By utilizing both signal processing and cryptographic techniques, three schemes are investigated and compared, including bit-plane randomization, random projection, and randomized unary encoding. Experimental results show that secure image retrieval can achieve comparable retrieval performance to conventional image retrieval techniques without revealing information about image content. This work enriches the area of secure information retrieval and can find applications in secure online services for images and videos.

Noise Features for Image Tampering Detection and Steganalysis

With increasing availability of low-cost image editing softwares, the authenticity of digital images can no longer be taken for granted. Digital images have also been used as cover data for transmitting secret information in the field of steganography. In this paper, we introduce a new set of features for multimedia forensics to determine if a digital image is an authentic camera output or if it has been tampered or embedded with hidden data. We perform such image forensic analysis employing three sets of statistical noise features, including those from denoising operations, wavelet analysis, and neighborhood prediction. Our experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can effectively distinguish digital images from their tampered or stego versions.

Intrinsic Sensor Noise Features for Forensic Analysis on Scanners and Scanned Images

A large portion of digital images available today are acquired using digital cameras or scanners. While cameras provide digital reproduction of natural scenes, scanners are often used to capture hard-copy art in a more controlled environment. In this paper, new techniques for nonintrusive scanner forensics that utilize intrinsic sensor noise features are proposed to verify the source and integrity of digital scanned images. Scanning noise is analyzed from several aspects using only scanned image samples, including through image denoising, wavelet analysis, and neighborhood prediction, and then obtain statistical features from each characterization. Based on the proposed statistical features of scanning noise, a robust scanner identifier is constructed to determine the model/brand of the scanner used to capture a scanned image. Utilizing these noise features, we extend the scope of acquisition forensics to differentiating scanned images from camera-taken photographs and computer-generated graphics. The proposed noise features also enable tampering forensics to detect postprocessing operations on scanned images. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of employing the proposed noise features for performing various forensic analysis on scanners and scanned images.

Image hashing resilient to geometric and filtering operations

Image hash functions provide compact representations of images, which is useful for search and authentication applications. In this work, we have identified a general three step framework and proposed a new image hashing scheme that achieves a better overall performance than the existing approaches under various kinds of image processing distortions. By exploiting the properties of discrete polar Fourier transform and incorporating cryptographic keys, the proposed image hash is resilient to geometric and filtering operations, and is secure against guessing and forgery attacks.

Non-Intrusive Forensic Analysis of Visual Sensors Using Output Images

This paper considers the problem of non-intrusive forensic analysis of the individual components in visual sensors and its implementation. As a new addition to the emerging area of forensic engineering, we present a framework for analyzing technologies employed inside digital cameras based on output images, and develop a set of forensic signal processing algorithms for visual sensors based on color array sensor and interpolation methods. We show through simulations that the proposed method is robust against compression and noise, and can help identify various processing components inside the camera. Such a non-intrusive forensic framework would provide useful evidence for analyzing technology infringement and evolution for visual sensors