High-Capacity Dual-Image Reversible Data Hiding in AMBTC Using Difference Expansion with Block-Wise HMAC Authentication
Source abstract
Abstract
Reversible data hiding (RDH) is a key technique in secure multimedia applications, enabling the exact recovery of both embedded data and the original cover content. To further enhance security and embedding capacity, this paper proposes a dual-image reversible data hiding (DIRDH) method based on absolute moment block truncation coding (AMBTC). In the proposed scheme, two identical AMBTC-decoded images are exploited as twin covers, and secret bits are adaptively embedded into paired pixels using a variable embedding rate. To ensure data integrity, a lightweight Hash-based Message Authentication Code (HMAC) mechanism is integrated, allowing reliable detection of tampering without additional side information. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves high embedding capacity while preserving good visual quality and provides effective authentication against representative tampering cases, including pixel modification, noise addition, and cropping. These contributions highlight the advantages of combining DIRDH with AMBTC, offering a practical and secure solution for high-capacity reversible data hiding.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Advanced Steganography and Watermarking Techniques · Chaos-based Image/Signal Encryption · Digital Media Forensic Detection
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Department of Computer Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul 05006, Republic of Korea
Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien 97401, Taiwan
School of Software, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang 330063, China
Funding
National Science and Technology Council
References (35)
Show source-provided references
1. Information hiding—A survey10.1109/5.771065 ↗
2. Digital image steganography: Survey and analysis of current methods10.1016/j.sigpro.2009.08.010 ↗
3. Menezes, A.J., van Oorschot, P.C., and Vanstone, S.A. (1996). Handbook of Applied Cryptography, CRC Press.
4. Johnson, N.F., Duric, Z., and Jajodia, S. (2001). Information Hiding: Steganography and Watermarking—Attacks and Countermeasures, Springer.10.1007/978-1-4615-4375-6 ↗
5. Techniques for data hiding10.1147/sj.353.0313 ↗
6. Hiding data in images by simple LSB substitution10.1016/j.patcog.2003.08.007 ↗
7. Fridrich, J., Goljan, M., and Du, R. (2001, January 5). Reliable detection of LSB steganography in color and grayscale images. Proceedings of the ACM Workshop on Multimedia and Security, Ottawa, ON, Canada.10.1145/1232454.1232466 ↗
8. Reversible data embedding using difference expansion10.1109/TCSVT.2003.815962 ↗
9. Reversible data hiding10.1109/TCSVT.2006.869964 ↗
10. Very fast watermarking by reversible contrast mapping10.1109/LSP.2006.884895 ↗
11. Reversible watermarking algorithm using sorting and prediction10.1109/TCSVT.2009.2020257 ↗
12. General framework to histogram-shifting-based reversible data hiding10.1109/TIP.2013.2246179 ↗
13. Efficient reversible data hiding based on multiple histograms modification
14. Chang, C.C., Kieu, T.D., and Chou, Y.C. (November, January 30). Reversible data hiding using two steganographic images. Proceedings of the IEEE TENCON, Taipei, Taiwan.
15. Chang, C.C., Chou, Y.C., and Kieu, T.D. Information hiding in dual images with reversibility. Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Multimedia and Ubiquitous Engineering (ICMUE), Qingdao, China, 4–6 June 2009, IEEE.
16. Reversible data hiding scheme based on dual stego-images using orientation combinations10.1007/s11235-011-9529-x ↗
17. Chang, C.C., Lu, T.C., Horng, G., Huang, Y.H., and Hsu, Y.M. A high payload data embedding scheme using dual stego-images with reversibility. Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Information, Communications & Signal Processing, Tainan, Taiwan, 10–13 December 2013, IEEE.10.1109/ICICS.2013.6782790 ↗
18. Reversible data hiding scheme based on exploiting modification direction with two steganographic images10.1007/s11042-014-1894-5 ↗
19. Dual-image-based reversible data hiding method using center folding strategy10.1016/j.sigpro.2015.03.017 ↗
20. A turtle shell-based visual secret sharing scheme with reversibility and authentication10.1007/s11042-018-5785-z ↗
21. Dual-image with integrity verification using exploiting modification direction10.1007/s11042-019-07783-y ↗
22. An efficient dual-image reversible data hiding scheme based on exploiting modification direction
23. Lu, T.C., Vo, T.N., and Jana, B. (2023, January 6–9). Dual-image reversible data hiding based on encoding the numeral system of concealed information. Proceedings of the 2023 15th International Conference on Advanced Computational Intelligence (ICACI), Seoul, Republic of Korea.10.1109/ICACI58115.2023.10146168 ↗
24. Improved dual-image quality with reversible data hiding using translocation and switching strategy10.32604/csse.2023.026294 ↗
25. Absolute moment block truncation coding and its application to medical image compression
26. Kim, C., Shin, D., Yang, C., and Leng, L. (2021). Data Hiding Method for Color AMBTC Compressed Images Using Color Difference. Appl. Sci., 11.10.3390/app11083418 ↗
27. Chang, C.C., Wu, H.L., and Chung, T.F. (2014, January 27–29). Applying Histogram Modification to Embed Secret Message in AMBTC. Proceedings of the 2014 Tenth International Conference on Intelligent Information Hiding and Multimedia Signal Processing, Kitakyushu, Japan.10.1109/IIH-MSP.2014.128 ↗
28. Adaptive reversible data hiding scheme for AMBTC compressed images10.1007/s11042-019-08237-1 ↗
29. Lin, C.-C., Nguyen, T.-S., Chang, C.-C., and Chang, W.-C. (2021). Efficient Reversible Data Hiding Scheme for AMBTC-Compressed Images. Appl. Sci., 11.10.3390/app11156741 ↗
30. Kim, C. (2022). Dual reversible data hiding based on AMBTC using Hamming code and LSB replacement. Electronics, 11.10.3390/electronics11193210 ↗
31. An efficient dual prediction-based reversible data hiding and reduced code method for AMBTC-compressed images
32. Bellare, M., Canetti, R., and Krawczyk, H. (1996). Keying hash functions for message authentication. Advances in Cryptology—CRYPTO ’96, Springer.10.1007/3-540-68697-5_1 ↗
33. Krawczyk, H., Bellare, M., and Canetti, R. (1997). HMAC: Keyed-Hashing Message Authentication, IETF. RFC 2104.10.17487/rfc2104 ↗
34. Reversible data hiding framework with content authentication capability for e-health10.1007/s11042-023-17019-9 ↗
35. Dual efficient reversible data hiding using Hamming code and OPAP