Digital media has always been prone to attacks like unauthorized modification, tampering, interception etc. Current watermarking schemes rely on classical key distribution schemes and hence are vulnerable to attacks like eavesdropping and quantum attacks. A method to integrate BB84 based key generation and DCT based embedding is proposed in this paper. The symmetric keys are generated using BB84 scheme and these keys are then used to encrypt the forensic metadata before embedding. Both key exchange process and watermark verification stages are secured. Under standard forensic processing—JPEG compression (QF 30-90), Gaussian noise(variance 0.01), and 30% cropping—watermarks remained detectable with PSNR exceeding 42 dB and SSIM above 0.98.
Digital media has always been prone to attacks like unauthorized modification, tampering, interception etc. Current watermarking schemes rely on classical key distribution schemes and hence are vulnerable to attacks like eavesdropping and quantum attacks. A method to integrate BB84 based key generation and DCT based embedding is proposed in this paper. The symmetric keys are generated using BB84 scheme and these keys are then used to encrypt the forensic metadata before embedding. Both key exchange process and watermark verification stages are secured. Under standard forensic processing—JPEG compression (QF 30-90), Gaussian noise(variance 0.01), and 30% cropping—watermarks remained detectable with PSNR exceeding 42 dB and SSIM above 0.98.
The protection of multimedia information against copying and tampering attacks by unauthorized parties is a challenge nowadays because of the tremendous increase in digital communications. Based on this, this paper presents a quantum blind image watermarking scheme incorporating Improved Novel Enhanced Representation (INEQR) for efficient image encoding, two-dimensional Quantum Discrete Cosine Transform (QDCT) frequency domain processing, and adaptive QIM for watermark embedding. The selection of watermarking parameters in this framework is carried out in a completely secure manner using Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) based on BB84. Simulation work on 30 standard grayscale images shows the strong imperceptibility, achieving PSNR values in the range of 52–58 dB and SSIM values between 0.98 and 0.999. and a more than 95 percent accuracy level in watermark recovery under attacks such as noise, compression attacks, and geometric attacks, thus authenticating PSNR-52– 58 dB and SSIM-0.98–0.999. Robustness analysis performed against signal processing and geometric attacks indicates reliable extraction of watermarks, where the proposed framework attains an extraction accuracy of more than 95% under additive noise and filtering scenarios and moderate robustness against geometric attacks such as rotation and scaling. These indicate that the proposed framework is effective and provides imperceptible blind image watermarks based on the quantum approach.
The protection of multimedia information against copying and tampering attacks by unauthorized parties is a challenge nowadays because of the tremendous increase in digital communications. Based on this, this paper presents a quantum blind image watermarking scheme incorporating Improved Novel Enhanced Representation (INEQR) for efficient image encoding, two-dimensional Quantum Discrete Cosine Transform (QDCT) frequency domain processing, and adaptive QIM for watermark embedding. The selection of watermarking parameters in this framework is carried out in a completely secure manner using Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) based on BB84. Simulation work on 30 standard grayscale images shows the strong imperceptibility, achieving PSNR values in the range of 52–58 dB and SSIM values between 0.98 and 0.999. and a more than 95 percent accuracy level in watermark recovery under attacks such as noise, compression attacks, and geometric attacks, thus authenticating PSNR-52– 58 dB and SSIM-0.98–0.999. Robustness analysis performed against signal processing and geometric attacks indicates reliable extraction of watermarks, where the proposed framework attains an extraction accuracy of more than 95% under additive noise and filtering scenarios and moderate robustness against geometric attacks such as rotation and scaling. These indicate that the proposed framework is effective and provides imperceptible blind image watermarks based on the quantum approach.
Protecting the ownership of pictures and the integrity of copyright law is now of paramount importance with the explosion in digital content, especially content that is vulnerable to manipulation and distribution without the copyright owner's permission. This research work combines post-quantum cryptography, Artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing aspects to introduce ground breaking quantum intelligent and secure architecture for image watermarking. The proposed system is using quantum transform methods for inserting undetectable and tamper- proof quantum watermarks into digital images. AI models are then applied to the images for change detection and immediate verification of the authenticity of the watermark. Therefore, quantum key distribution (QKD), lattice-based post-quantum cryptography and other quantum safe encryption schemes are employed to cryptographically secure the metadata of watermark for good cryptographic security. This hybrid approach has been shown to enhance the security against both classical and quantum attacks. NFT authentication, secure cloud storage of pictures, and protection for copyright in digital media are examples of some potential applications. Simulation and experimental results show increased strength of the watermark, accuracy of message about unauthorized insertion of the watermark, and enhanced cryptographic security with respect to all other methods. The article demonstrates how AI can be aligned with quantum computing in order to secure audio-visual content in post-quantum cyber security.
Quantum watermarking can be used for image ownership protection. This paper proposes a quantum watermarking scheme based on Novel Enhanced Quantum Representation (NEQR), DNA encoding, and quantum error correction (QEC). First, XOR operations are performed between the watermark image and a DNA key sequence. Then, performing DNA addition between the resulting image and DNA key image, the encrypted watermark image is obtained. Using the quantum parity determination (QPD) method, the encrypted quantum watermark image is embedded into the least significant bit (LSB) of the carrier image. The quantum circuits for the scheme are also provided. In order to evaluate the effect of the scheme, the watermarking scheme is simulated using MATLAB. The simulation results show that the embedded watermark has good visual quality, and the PSNR of watermarked image is about 51 dB. When ‘salt and pepper’ noise with a density of 0.10 is added to the watermarked image, the PSNR for extracted watermark is 20.38 dB. When the cropping proportion is 50%, the PSNR for extracted watermark is 22.08 dB. These results indicate that the proposed watermarking scheme has strong robustness against noise and cropping attacks. The extraction of watermark is also simulated for cases where the DNA key sequence or key image is damaged. If there is a small amount of damage to DNA key sequence or key image, the watermark cannot be extracted effectively. The watermark encryption further increases the difficulty of unauthorized watermark extraction. Applying DNA encoding to quantum watermarking research also offers significant novelty.
The fast-paced progress in quantum computing introduces significant new challenges for digital forensics by undermining classical cryptographic mechanisms that protect digital evidence. Algorithms such as Shor’s and Grover’s threaten the long-term reliability of traditional hash functions, digital signatures, and encryption schemes, thereby compromising the integrity, authenticity, and confidentiality of evidence. This paper investigates how quantum entanglement can be leveraged to enhance the security of digital forensic evidence in the post-quantum era. A hybrid quantum–classical forensic framework is proposed, integrating three entanglement-based components: an entanglement-assisted quantum hashing mechanism for integrity assurance, a CHSH nonlocality-based protocol for authenticity verification, and a BBM92 quantum key distribution scheme for confidentiality and secure chain-of-custody management. All components are implemented using IBM Qiskit and evaluated with the AerSimulator under realistic Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum conditions. Experimental results measured using Hamming distance, CHSH S-values, and Quantum Bit Error Rate demonstrate improved tamper detection, reliable authenticity validation, and strong overall confidentiality.
Quantum computers pose existential threats to classical cryptographic systems, including those used to secure digital watermarking—the embedding of robust, imperceptible information into multimedia for copyright protection and authentication. As Shor's and Grover's algorithms undermine the security of RSA, ECC, and symmetric key schemes, respectively, watermarking techniques reliant on these cryptosystems are at risk of attack once practical quantum computers emerge. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art in quantum-resistant, or post-quantum, digital watermarking. We examine approaches that leverage post-quantum public-key primitives, such as lattice-based, hash-based, and code-based cryptography, to establish secure embedding and verification protocols that are immune to quantum decryption. Additionally, we analyze the computational trade-offs of integrating quantum-safe algorithms into watermarking pipelines—in terms of embedding transparency, capacity, computational cost, and resilience against attacks.