Abstract
Watermarking methods have traditionally emerged from the imperative to guarantee the authenticity of digital documents. As we navigate the current landscape of advancing voice imitation and forgery techniques, safeguarding forensic evidence signals, historic speeches, and music signals has become an urgent challenge. A notable concern with existing methods is the presence of blind spots—areas where tampering goes undetected—significantly impacting detection sensitivity and rates. To address these challenges, this research introduces a fragile audio watermarking method designed to identify even the slightest modifications in audio signals. The approach relies on embedded nested SHA-256 hashes. Performance evaluation demonstrates that any inversion of a bit in the watermarked signals is promptly detected on the blind side of detection. Notably, blind spots are minimized, leading to a remarkable 100% detection rate. Furthermore, comparative results highlight the lightweight nature of the watermark, ensuring high signal imperceptibility.
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All data and audio samples utilized in this research are available upon request. Researchers interested in obtaining access to the supplementary materials may contact the corresponding author.
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This work received support from the research support program et al.-Maarif University College (uoa.edu.iq) under the reference number (UOA—202356598).
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AlSabhany, A.A., Ali, A.H. & Alsaadi, M. A lightweight fragile audio watermarking method using nested hashes for self-authentication and tamper-proof. Multimed Tools Appl 83, 89135–89149 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-024-18930-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-024-18930-5