Method and apparatus for protecting the legitimacy of an article

• US 6,748,533 B1
• Filed: 12/02/1999
• Issued: 06/08/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kent Ridge Digital Labs
• Original Assignee: Kent Ridge Digital Labs
• Inventors: Wu, Jiankang, Sun, Qibin, Deng, Huijie Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Smithers, Matthew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fields, Courtney D.
• Application Number:
  US09/445,140
• Time in Patent Office: 1,650 Days
• Field of Search: 713/176, 713/177, 713/178, 713/179, 713/186, 382/115, 382/232, 382/250
• US Class Current: 713/176
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/0028 Adaptive watermarking, e.g. Human Visual System [HVS]-based watermarking
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/0034 using watermarks
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/08 by coded identity card or credit card or other personal identification means without personal verification means G07F7/02
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/125 Offline card verification
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/00 Electrically-operated educational appliances working with questions and answers G09B7/00; simulators G09B9/00; advertising or displaying in general G09F
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32144 embedded in the image data, i.e. enclosed or integrated in the image, e.g. watermark, super-imposed logo or stamp
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32288 Multiple embedding, e.g. cocktail embedding, or redundant embedding, e.g. repeating the additional information at a plurality of locations in the image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32304 Embedding different sets of additional information
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3233 of authentication information, e.g. digital signature, watermark
• 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 2201/3281 Encryption; Ciphering

Abstract

A method, an apparatus and a computer program product are disclosed for protecting the legitimacy of an article (100), and in particular an electronic document, against forgery or fraud. Such articles include passports, credit cards, bank notes, lottery tickets, secure forms. The method includes the following steps: several watermarks (204, 224, 244) are generated independently (304, 306, 308) by different cryptographic watermarking mechanisms controlled utilising information permanently associated within the article or product (100); and each watermark is embedded in a linked cryptographic manner (160, 162, 164). Subsequently, the watermarks can be scanned and digitised (410). The authenticity of the article (100) can be determined by verifying the correctness of extracted watermarks and the encryption links (160, 162, 164) among them. Also disclosed is a method of embedding an invisible watermark (714) in an official seal (712) incorporated in an electronic article or document (700).

Claims

1. A method of embedding linked watermarks in an article requiring protection against forgery, said method including the steps of:

extracting information from a first portion of said article;

encrypting said extracted information from said first portion;

generating a watermark using said encrypted information;

rendering said watermark to a second portion of said article; and

repeating the extracting, encrypting, generating and rendering steps with another portion of said article until all relevant information of said article has been processed and a cryptographic link is formed thereby.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said watermark is generated based on a selected watermark generating mechanism dependent upon said encrypted information.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein each of said watermarks is generated based on different watermark generation mechanism.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein seeds for generating a watermark are from only one portion of said article or several selected portions of said article.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein said information is extracted directly from text.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein said information is extracted from one or more invariant features of an image.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein said image depicts biometric data of a person associated with the article.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein said article is an electronic document.

9. An apparatus for embedding linked watermarks in an article requiring protection against forgery, said apparatus including:

means for extracting information from a first portion of said article;

means for encrypting said extracted information from said first portion;

means for generating a watermark using said encrypted information;

means for rendering said watermark to a second portion of said article; and

means for repeating the extracting, encrypting, generating and rendering steps with another portion of said article until all relevant information of said article has been processed and a cryptographic link is formed thereby.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said watermark is generated based on a selected watermark generating mechanism dependent upon said encrypted information.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein each of said watermarks is generated based on different watermark generation mechanism.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein seeds for generating a watermark are from only one portion of said article or several selected portions of said article.

13. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said information is extracted directly from text.

14. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said information is extracted from one or more invariant features of an image.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said image depicts biometric data of a person associated with the article.

16. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said article is an electronic document.

17. A computer program product having a computer readable medium having a computer program recorded therein for embedding linked watermarks in an article requiring protection against forgery, said computer program product including:

means for extracting information from a first portion of said article;

means for encrypting said extracted information from said first portion;

means for generating a watermark using said encrypted information;

means for rendering said watermark to a second portion of said article; and

means for repeating the extracting, encrypting, generating and rendering steps with another portion of said article until all relevant information of said article has been processed and a cryptographic link is formed thereby.

18. The computer program product according to claim 17, wherein said watermark is generated based on a selected watermark generating mechanism dependent upon said encrypted information.

19. The computer program product according to claim 18, wherein each of said watermarks is generated based on different watermark generation mechanism.

20. The computer program product according to claim 19, wherein seeds for generating a watermark are from only one portion of said article or several selected portions of said article.

21. The computer program product according to claim 17, wherein said information is extracted directly from text.

22. The computer program product according to claim 17, wherein said information is extracted from one or more invariant features of an image.

23. The computer program product according to claim 22, wherein said image depicts biometric data of a person associated with the article.

24. The computer program product according to claim 17, wherein said article is an electronic document.

25. An article requiring protection against forgery or fraud, said article including:

two or more portions for containing information, said information including text, biometric data, or both; and

two or more watermarks, each watermark printed in a respective one of said portions and being dependent upon information in a different portion, whereby a cryptographic link is formed between said two or more portions.

26. The article according to claim 25, wherein said article is an electronic document.

27. An article requiring protection against forgery or fraud, said article formed by the steps of:

extracting information from a first portion of said article, said article having two or more portions for containing information, said information including text, biometric data, or both;

encrypting said extracted information from said first portion;

generating a watermark using said encrypted information;

rendering said watermark to a second portion of said article; and

repeating the extracting, encrypting, generating and rendering steps with another portion of said article until all relevant information of said article has been processed so that two or more watermarks are formed, each watermark being rendered in a respective one of said portions and being dependent upon information extracted from a different portion, whereby a cryptographic link is formed between said two or more portions.

28. A method of forming an article requiring protection against forgery, said method including the steps of:

generating an invisible watermark dependent upon information contained in said article; and

rendering said watermark within an official seal placed on said article, said official seal being a securely controlled item of an authority.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein said article is an electronic document.

30. The method according to claim 28, further including the steps of:

extracting information from a portion of said article; and

encrypting said extracted information.

31. The method according to claim 30, wherein said information is extracted directly from text.

32. The method according to claim 30, wherein said information is extracted from one or more invariant features of an image.

33. The method according to claim 32, wherein said image depicts biometric data of a person associated with the article.

34. An apparatus for forming an article requiring protection against forgery, said apparatus including:

means for generating an invisible watermark dependent upon information contained in said article; and

means for rendering said watermark within an official seal placed on said article, said official seal being a securely controlled item of an authority.

35. The apparatus according to claim 34, wherein said article is an electronic document.

36. The apparatus according to claim 34, further including:

means for extracting information from a portion of said article; and

means for encrypting said extracted information.

37. The apparatus according to claim 36, wherein said information is extracted directly from text.

38. The apparatus according to claim 36, wherein said information is extracted from one or more invariant features of an image.

39. The apparatus according to claim 38, wherein said image depicts biometric data of a person associated with the article.

40. A computer program product having a computer readable medium having a computer program recorded therein for forming an article requiring protection against forgery, said computer program product including:

means for generating an invisible watermark dependent upon information contained in said article; and

means for rendering said watermark within an official seal placed on said article, said official seal being a securely controlled item of an authority.

41. The computer program product according to claim 40, wherein said article is an electronic document.

42. The computer program product according to claim 40, further including:

means for extracting information from a portion of said article; and

means for encrypting said extracted information.

43. The computer program product according to claim 42, wherein said information is extracted directly from text.

44. The computer program product according to claim 42, wherein said information is extracted from one or more invariant features of an image.

45. The computer program product according to claim 44, wherein said image depicts biometric data of a person associated with the article.

46. An article requiring protection against forgery or fraud, said article including:

a portion containing information, said information including text, biometric data, or both;

an official seal placed on said article, said official seal being a securely controlled item of an authority; and

an invisible watermark dependent upon said information and being rendered within said official seal.

47. The article according to claim 46, wherein said article is an electronic document.

48. An article requiring protection against forgery or fraud, said article formed by the steps of:

generating an invisible watermark dependent upon information contained in said article, said information including text, biometric data, or both; and

rendering said watermark within an official seal placed on said article, said official seal being a securely controlled item of an authority.

49. A method of verifying the legitimacy of an article against forgery, said method including the steps of:

inputting said article as two or more portions;

extracting at least one watermark from each portion;

determining a watermark from information in each portion;

comparing said extracted watermark from one portion with said determined watermark from a different portion to determine if a corresponding cryptographic link is found; and

repeating said comparing step until all portions of said article have been processed, said article being verified as a legitimate article if all cryptographic links are found between said two or more portions.

50. The method according to claim 49, further including the steps of:

scanning said product; and

dividing said scanned product into two or more portions.

51. The method according to claim 50, further including the step of:

scanning information from a portion of said product to reconstruct a seed to a generated watermark using a cryptographic technique carried out in a process of embedding a watermark in said portion.

52. The method according to claim 51, further including the step of:

extracting an invariant feature from said scanned information to reconstruct said seed.

53. The method according to claim 52, wherein said extracted, invariant feature includes biometric data.

54. The method according to claim 51, further including the step of:

decrypting said scanned information to reconstruct said seed.

55. The method according to claim 49, wherein a cryptographic link is a self-circle.

56. An apparatus for verifying the legitimacy of an article against forgery, said apparatus including:

means for inputting said article as two or more portions;

means for extracting at least one watermark from each portion;

means for determining a watermark from information in each portion;

means for comparing said extracted watermark from one portion with said determined watermark from a different portion to determine if a corresponding cryptographic link is found; and

means for repeating said comparing step until all portions of said article have been processed, said article being verified as a legitimate article if all cryptographic links are found between said two or more portions.

57. The apparatus according to claim 56, further including:

means for scanning said product; and

means for dividing said scanned product into two or more portions.

58. The apparatus according to claim 57, further including:

means for scanning information from a portion of said product to reconstruct a seed to a generated watermark using a cryptographic technique carried out in a process of embedding a watermark in said portion.

59. The apparatus according to claim 58, further including:

means for extracting an invariant feature from said scanned information to reconstruct said seed.

60. The apparatus according to claim 59, wherein said extracted, invariant feature includes biometric data.

61. The apparatus according to claim 58, further including:

means for decrypting said scanned information to reconstruct said seed.

62. The apparatus according to claim 56, wherein a cryptographic link is a self-circle.

63. A computer program product having a computer readable medium having a computer program recorded therein for verifying the legitimacy of an article against forgery, said computer program product including:

means for inputting said article as two or more portions;

means for extracting at least one watermark from each portion;

means for determining a watermark from information in each portion;

means for comparing said extracted watermark from one portion with said determined watermark from a different portion to determine if a corresponding cryptographic link is found; and

means for repeating said comparing step until all portions of said article have been processed, said article being verified as a legitimate article if all cryptographic links are found between said two or more portions.

64. The computer program product according to claim 63, further including:

means for scanning said product; and

means for dividing said scanned product into two or more portions.

65. The computer program product according to claim 64, further including:

means for scanning information from a portion of said product to reconstruct a seed to a generated watermark using a cryptographic technique carried out in a process of embedding a watermark in said portion.

66. The computer program product according to claim 65, further including:

means for extracting an invariant feature from said scanned information to reconstruct said seed.

67. The computer program product according to claim 66, wherein said extracted, invariant feature includes biometric data.

68. The computer program product according to claim 65, further including:

means for decrypting said scanned information to reconstruct said seed.

69. The computer program product according to claim 63, wherein a cryptographic link is a self-circle.

70. A method of verifying the legitimacy of an article against forgery, said method including the steps of:

extracting at least one invisible watermark from an official seal, said official seal being a securely controlled item of an authority; and

comparing said extracted watermark with verification information to determine if said extracted watermark matches said verification information indicating that said article is legitimate.

71. The method according to claim 70, wherein said verification information is information identifying said authority.

72. The method according to claim 70, further including the step of:

generating a watermark dependent upon information forming part of said article to provide said verification information.

73. The method according to claim 72, wherein said information forming part of said article is biometrics data.

74. The method according to claim 71, further including the step of:

decrypting said watermark.

75. An apparatus for verifying the legitimacy of an article against forgery, said apparatus including:

means for-extracting at least one invisible watermark from an official seal, said official seal being a securely controlled item of an authority; and

means for comparing said extracted watermark with verification information to determine if said extracted watermark matches said verification information indicating that-said article is legitimate.

76. The apparatus according to claim 75, wherein said verification information is information identifying said authority.

77. The apparatus according to claim 75, further including:

means for generating a watermark dependent upon information forming part of said article to provide said verification information.

78. The apparatus according to claim 77, wherein said information forming part of said article is biometrics data.

79. The apparatus according to claim 76, further including:

means for decrypting said watermark.

80. A computer program product having a computer readable medium having a computer program recorded therein for verifying the legitimacy of an article against forgery, said computer program product including:

means for extracting at least one invisible watermark from an official seal, said official seal being a securely controlled item of an authority; and

means for comparing said extracted watermark with verification information to determine if said extracted watermark matches said verification information indicating that said article is legitimate.

81. The computer program product according to claim 80, wherein said verification information is information identifying said authority.

82. The computer program product according to claim 80, further including:

means for generating a watermark dependent upon information forming part of said article to provide said verification information.

83. The computer program product according to claim 82, wherein said information forming part of said article is biometrics data.

84. The computer program product according to claim 81, further including:

means for decrypting said watermark.