Encryption-Then-Compression Systems Using Grayscale-Based Image Encryption for JPEG Images

A block scrambling-based encryption scheme is presented to enhance the security of Encryption-then-Compression (EtC) systems with JPEG compression, which allow us to securely transmit the images through an untrusted channel provider, such as social network service providers. The proposed scheme enables the use of a smaller block size and a larger number of blocks than the conventional scheme. Images encrypted using the proposed scheme include less color information due to the use of grayscale images even when the original image has three color channels. These features enhance security against various attacks such as jigsaw puzzle solver and brute-force attacks. In an experiment, the security against jigsaw puzzle solver attacks is evaluated. Encrypted images were uploaded to and then downloaded from Facebook and Twitter, and the results demonstrated that the proposed scheme is effective for EtC systems.