Blind forensics of contrast enhancement in digital images

Digital images have seen increased use in applications where their authenticity is of prime importance. This proves to be problematic due to the widespread availability of digital image editing software. As a result, there is a need for the development of reliable techniques for verifying an image´s authenticity. In this paper, a blind forensic algorithm is proposed for detecting the use of global contrast enhancement operations to modify digital images. Furthermore, a separate algorithm is proposed to identify the use of histogram equalization, a commonly implemented contrast enhancement operation. Both algorithms perform detection by seeking out unique artifacts introduced into an image´s histogram as a result of the particular operation examined. Additionally, results are presented showing the effectiveness of both proposed algorithms.