Hierarchical secret image sharing method using JPEG 2000 codestream syntax

This paper proposes a hierarchical secret sharing method for image data. In the conventional secret sharing scheme (SSS), secret data is reconstructed only if more shares are gathered and combine than a pre-decided number, k. Though large k makes a strong security feature, it creates problems with the handling of the many shares required to reconstruct the original data. If it allows us to browse the contents of secret image data roughly, then it relieves us from the troublesome management of the secret data. Therefore, in order to improve usability, we propose a new SSS using JPEG 2000's hierarchical image representation. This method can control the number of reconstructed frequency sub-bands of image information by the number of combined shares. It can also control the precision of pixel values and the reconstructed region in the image. This paper shows the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed method by computer simulations.