On combining MD5 for image authentication using LSB substitution in selected pixels

This paper presents an image authentication technique using message digest five (MD5) as digital signature. The signature is used as a watermark to authenticate the data integrity. In this work, MD5 is used to calculate digital signature row wise from the contents of selected pixels each row. Then the signature is hidden in selected pixels, not used in signature calculation, of each row using least significant bits (LSB) substitution technique. The hidden signature is used to validate the integrity of the digital images. The proposed technique does not add any extra payload to image data, the size of the digital image remains the same due to embedding signature in LSB of selected pixels and save bandwidth. This technique is capable to detect a single bit modification made by any third party and authenticate image integrity at row level.