Blind watermarking algorithm with 2D-SCCM chaotic system encryption based on SURF and RHFMs

Abstract In this paper, a digital watermarking algorithm was proposed based on local feature regions and radial harmonic Fourier moments. It used a quantized modulation algorithm to embed the watermark information into the frequency domain information of the image. Compared with traditional watermarks directly embedded into the pixel values, the algorithm enhanced the invisibility of the watermark. Many existing digital watermarking algorithms neglected the security of the embedding process, because of more attention on the effect of post-embedding and extraction. To overcome this problem, we proposed a two-dimensional hyperchaotic system named 2D-SCCM chaotic system, which used classical sine mapping and cubic mapping for coupling. Before embedding, the correlation among the pixels of the watermarked image was disrupted, resulting in a full process security enhancement. Combining the clustering algorithm with feature point extraction, the obtained local feature region was more stable and suitable for watermark embedding. Results showed that the improved watermark embedding algorithm was more effective for resisting geometric attacks such as cropping attacks. Moreover, the PSNR values of the final watermark-embedded images were all greater than 50 dB, indicating a good balance between imperceptibility and robustness.