Data hiding schemes based on Singular Value Decomposition

Information hiding techniques are acquiring an always increasing importance, due to the widespread diffusion of multimedia contents. Several schemes have been devised in the fields of steganography and digital watermarking, exploiting the properties of different domains. In this chapter, the authors focus on the SVD transform, with the aim of providing an exhaustive overview (more than 100 papers are analyzed) on those steganography and watermarking techniques leveraging on the important properties of such a transform. The large number of algorithms operating in the image, video and audio contexts is first classified by means of a general approach, then analyzed, to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of each method. The authors also give a detailed discussion about the applicability of each reviewed and compared data hiding scheme, in order to identify the most appropriate candidates for practical applications.