SYSTEM AND METHOD OF AUTHENICATING A DIGITALLY CAPTURED IMAGE

• US 20070162756A1
• Filed: 10/11/2006
• Published: 07/12/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Monument Peak Ventures, LLC (Dominion Harbor Enterprises, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
• Inventors: Fredlund, John, Parker, Martin
• Granted Patent: US 7,984,300 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/176
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/123 received data contents, e.g. message integrity
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32101 Display, printing, storage or transmission of additional information, e.g. ID code, date and time or title
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32122 in a separate device, e.g. in a memory or on a display separate from image data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2101/00 Still video cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3226 of identification information or the like, e.g. ID code, index, title, part of an image, reduced-size image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3235 Checking or certification of the authentication information, e.g. by comparison with data stored independently
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3236 Details of authentication information generation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3274 Storage or retrieval of prestored additional information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3278 Transmission

Abstract

A system and method of authenticating a digital still image captured using a digital image capture device. To process the digital still image for later authentication, a signature data is transmitted from a remote location to the digital image capture device. Upon capturing the digital still image, an image identification is associated with the digital still image. The signature data is then applied to the captured digital still image to produce an authentication signature representative of the captured digital still image. The authentication signature is associated with the image identification and transmitted from the digital still image to the remote location for storage at the remote location. To verify the authenticity of the digital still image, the digital still image is transmitted to the remote location. The signature data for the transmitted digital still image is accessed and applied to the transmitted digital still image to produce a verification signature. The authentication signature and the verification signature are compared to determine the authentication of the transmitted digital still image. In an alternate embodiment, the signature data and image identification are sent to the image capture device to generate the verification signature, which is transmitted to the remote location for comparison with the authentication signature.

Claims

1. A method of authenticating a digital still image captured using a digital image capture device and processed using signature data to produce an authentication signature wherein the authentication signature is stored at a remote location for later use in verifying the authentication of the captured digital still image, the method comprising the steps of:

transmitting the digital still image to the remote location;

accessing the signature data;

applying the signature data to the transmitted digital still image to produce a verification signature;

accessing the authentication signature stored at the remote location; and

comparing the authentication signature with the verification signature to determine the authentication of the transmitted digital still image.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of producing an authentication message indicative of the authentication of the digital still image.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of transmitting an authentication code to verify the authentication of the authentication message.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of verifying the authenticity of the signature data.

5. A method of authenticating a digital still image captured using a digital image capture device, comprising the steps of:

transmitting signature data from a remote location to the digital image capture device;

associating an image identification with the digital still image;

applying the signature data to the captured digital still image to produce an authentication signature representative of the captured digital still image;

associating the authentication signature with the image identification;

transmitting the authentication signature to the remote location;

storing the signature data, authentication signature, and image identification at the remote location;

transmitting the digital still image to the remote location;

accessing the signature data for the transmitted digital still image;

applying the signature data to the transmitted digital still image to produce a verification signature; and

comparing the authentication signature with the verification signature to determine the authentication of the transmitted digital still image.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of producing an authentication message indicative of the authentication of the transmitted digital still image.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the signature data from the remote location is transmitted to the digital image capture device prior to the capture of the digital still image.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the remote location comprises a database for storing the authentication signature.

9. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of transmitting a message indicative of receipt of the authentication signature by the remote location.