An efficient self-embedding fragile watermarking scheme for image authentication with two chances for recovery capability

Abstract

A self-embedding block-wise fragile image watermarking scheme is proposed in this paper for authentication, localization, and recovery with enhanced accuracy. In this introduced scheme, the cover image is split into non-overlapping blocks with a size of 2 × 2, and each block, ten restoration bits and two authentication bits are calculated from the five MSBs planes. In the watermarked image, each block contains restoration bits of the other two partner blocks and authentication bits itself. These ways two copies of restoration bits for each block are embedded into the host image. Therefore, we will get the second opportunity for block restoration in the situation one copy is not able to extract. The proposed scheme is also beneficial because three-level hierarchical tampered detection methods verify the authenticity of each block. So the authentication of each block can be confirmed with a significant possibility. The experimental outcomes prove that the intended scheme is capable of performing a high- quality restoration. The recovery is feasible with high Peak Signal to Noise Ratio and Normalized Correlation Coefficient up to 50% tampering rate. The proposed scheme also eliminates the blocking artefacts and enhances the precision of tampered localization because of the minimal size non-overlapping blocks. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.