Reversible Data Hiding in Encrypted Images Based on Variational Lossless Compression and Dual Encryption

Abstract

To enhance the embedding capacity and security of reversible data hiding in encrypted images (RDHEI), an RDHEI algorithm based on variational lossless compression (VLC) and dual encryption is proposed. Firstly, VLC model is introduced to ensure reversibility while achieving high embedding capacity. On the basis of variational autoencoder model, the VLC model incorporates an error encoding module to record the difference between the input and output images, thereby achieving lossless compression. Subsequently, dual encryption includes both stream encryption and model encryption, ensuring security both in the carrier and method, and original images necessitate dual decryption for accurate recovery. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm elevates embedding rate by at least 0.12 bpp in UCID compared to existing algorithms, and can resist brute force attacks to achieve high security.