Data Authentication and Dissemination using Watermarking for Net-Centric Operations

There are many applications for a net-centric data dissemination and authentication capability, which utilizes emerging steganography and watermarking technology in addition to traditional encryption, hashing, and time stamping techniques. The Global Information Grid (GIG) would benefit greatly from such a utility, as the information, applications, and processing power being distributed have varying classification levels. It is of the utmost importance that this data be protected from unauthorized use, disclosure, modification, and destruction. A compromise of the abovementioned data could seriously damage national security. If such a compromise does occur, it must be identified immediately, to prevent the further loss of classified information and (potentially) lives. Currently, mainstream net-centric data assurance and authentication technology relies heavily on the use of encryption and cryptographically secure hashing algorithms. These methods, while effective, could be greatly improved by the use of watermarking/steganography techniques. The proposed research and analysis will yield a prototype capable of using advanced watermarking and data hiding techniques to disseminate and authenticate data as it traverses a computer network.