International Journal of Computer Applications |
Foundation of Computer Science (FCS), NY, USA |
Volume 186 - Number 10 |
Year of Publication: 2024 |
Authors: Arkaprava Bhaduri Mandal, Deepak Agnihotri, Tanmoy Kanti Das |
10.5120/ijca2024923448 |
Arkaprava Bhaduri Mandal, Deepak Agnihotri, Tanmoy Kanti Das . An Adversarial Technique for Removal of JPEG Ghosts. International Journal of Computer Applications. 186, 10 ( Feb 2024), 1-8. DOI=10.5120/ijca2024923448
The presence of statistical signatures of both double and single JPEG compression in an image indicates its maliciousness, and several techniques have been proposed using this fact to detect tempered images. One such statistical signature is known as JPEG ghosts where the presence of minima and local minima in the DCT coefficients of a JPEG image proves the existence of double JPEG compression. Moreover, it can localize the double JPEG compression quite successfully. However, this paper presents an adversarial method that can erase the statistical signature of the double JPEG compression without affecting the visual quality of the image. The proposed adversarial technique approximates the DCT coefficients using low-degree polynomials in such a way that no trace of prior JPEG compression can be detected. The transformed DCT coefficients exhibit statistical properties that are similar to uncompressed images. This technique successfully defeats the JPEG ghost-based forensic detection and localization method which raises serious concern regarding the robustness of the existing forensics schemes based on the JPEG artifacts.