Evaluation of a Fourier Watermarking Method Robustness to Cards Durability Attacks Rabia Riad 1,2 , Mohamed El Hajji 1 , Hassan Douzi 1 , Rachid Harba 2 , and Fr´ ed´ eric Ros 2 1 IRF-SIC Laboratory, Ibn Zohr University, BP 8106-Cit´ e Dakhla, 80000 Agadir, Morocco 2 PRISME Laboratory,University of Orl´ eans,12 Rue de Blois, 45067 Orleans, France Abstract. In the context of an industrial application for securing identity cards, image watermarking is used to verify the integrity and authenticity of images printed on plastic cards support. In this area the watermark must survive image modifications related to print-and-scan process and the degradations submitted by ID cards through its life- time. In this work various card durability attacks were studied (bending, scratches, color fading) as well as some additional other attacks that re- flects other possible attacks in the given industrial context. The ID im- ages were watermarked by a new Fourier watermarking method based on print/scan counterattacks (blurring correction and colors restorations) that allows improvement of the robustness of the watermarking method. Results show a noticeable increase of the overall performances of the Fourier watermarking method against durability attacks that is suitable in the context of the industrial application of interest. Keywords: cards durability; print/scan; DFT watermarking; counter- attack; ID images. 1 Introduction Security is one of the highest challenges of access control system based on Smart cards. The development of technology and image processing play a major role in security process. In this context, digital watermarking is used to verify the integrity and authenticity of a portrait of the holder, printed on cards support [1,2]. Digital watermarking is information intelligently embedded in the host data such that an unauthorized party cannot use this document[3,4], The specifica- tion of watermarking schemes depends on their usage scenario and there is no ideal solution able to match with all requirements with 100% of efficiency while being fast, secure, imperceptible and robust. For ID card applications, the essen- tials requirements for digital watermarking are the robustness to printing and scanning attacks, and the robustness to the cards durability attacks. Cards durability is a key factor in ID card application field. Indeed, the cards and ID images must be resistant to both normal and extreme usage conditions A. Elmoataz et al. (Eds.): ICISP 2014, LNCS 8509, pp. 280–288, 2014. c  Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014