Researchers discover better way to embed, remove hidden data in digital images

SEPTEMBER 24--Scientists from the University of Rochester and Xerox Corporation (both Rochester, NY; www.rochester.edu and www.xerox.com/) have invented a new way to hide information within an ordinary digital image and to extract it again without distorting the original or losing any information. Called "reversible data hiding," the new technique will solve a dilemma faced by digital-image users, particularly in sensitive military, legal, and medical applications. Until now they have had to choose between an image that's been watermarked to establish its trustworthiness and one that isn't watermarked but preserves all the original information, allowing it to be enlarged or enhanced to show detail. When information is embedded using the newly discovered method, authorized users can do both.The technique, described in a paper to be presented at the IEEE 2002 International Conference on Image Processing on Sept. 24, was codeveloped by Mehmet U. Celik and A. Murat Tekalp of the university and Gaurav Sharma and Eli Saber of Xerox. Their collaborative research was done in the Center for Electronic Imaging Systems, a New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research designated center for advanced technology."The technique will be widely applicable to situations requiring authentication of images with detection of changes, and it can also be used to encode information about the image itself, such as who took the picture, when or with what camera," said Murat Tekalp, professor of electrical engineering at the University of Rochester. "The greatest benefit of this technology is in determining if anyone has clandestinely altered an image. These days many commercial software systems can be used to manipulate digital images. By encoding data in this way we can be sure the image has not been tampered with and then remove the data within it without harming the quality of the picture," he said.Although the technique is currently implemented in software, it could be implemented in hardware or firmware in trusted devices where image integrity is critical to the application, the authors said. For instance, the technique could be used in a trusted digital camera used to gather forensic evidence to be later used at a trial. If information is embedded in the images captured with the camera using the new algorithms, any subsequent manipulations of the pictures could be detected and the area where they occurred pinpointed.A patent application on the methods developed for reversible data hiding has been filed by the University of Rochester; and the university and Xerox will share the rights to this invention.