DARPA ISO Sponsored Research

1999 Project Summary
Semantic Data Integrity
Odyssey Research Associates
Project Website: 
 http://www.oracorp.com/1999/semanticdataintegrity.htm Additional project information provided by the performing organization 
Quad Chart: 
 Quad Chart - PPT Format
Objective:
 Current threats to data integrity have created a demand for new countermeasures. It is no longer acceptable to simply discard maliciously modified or damaged data. This is especially true when the data is either very large or the information is time-critical and a timely retransmission is not feasible. We must be able to rapidly assess the damage, recover and verify as much of the original as possible, rebuild the potentially missing structure, and convey the results to the human users in a meaningful manner. 

The effort aims to develop tools and techniques that can significantly improve the effectiveness of recovering meaningful information from corrupted data after an information attack. The initial emphasis is on image protection and recovery. This includes: 

  • Methods of dividing the data into overlapping subsets to effectively and efficiently support potential data recovery that is consistent with the particular integrity objectives. 
  • Watermarking and selfembedding methods to facilitate recovery and verification of key characteristics. 
  • New algorithms to support the efficient recognition of undamaged data fragments and the reconstruction of the data into a usable form. 
Approach:
 The work will investigate : 
  • Subset formation, watermarking and embedding techniques, 
  • Digital Semantic Integrity (DSI) mark methods that save information that can be used to aid subset identification, verification and recovery. 
  • Reconstruction methods 
These techniques will be implemented in software and experiments will be conducted to test their effectiveness.
 

The principal focus is on images, but we are also investigating more general techniques.
Recent FY-99 Accomplishments:
 This project has just recently begun.
FY-2000 Plans:
 We expect to have mostly completed the project by the end of FY-2000. This includes methods, software, and experiments.
Technology Transition:
 The integrity protection of digital data currently has a number of limitations. These limitations have led to widespread fraud, intellectual property theft, and counterfeiting activities by worldwide organized crime and state-sponsored organizations. The financial losses due to these crimes are approaching 700 billion dollars annually (source Hallcrest II Report NFIC). The threats to our national infrastructure -- banking, finance, intellectual property and defense -- all require advanced technology solutions to improve the integrity of digital data. During this effort, several key advancements are being made that offer opportunities for transfer of technology to the commercial and government sectors. The key areas include advanced digital integrity protection, verification, recovery, and reconstruction.
Principal Investigator:
 PI: David Rosenthal 
Odyssey Research Associates 
33 Thornwood Drive, Suite 500 
(607) 266-7166 
FAX: (607) 257-1972 
davidr@oracorp.com 

Admin: Rick Smith 
Odyssey Research Associates 
33 Thornwood Drive, Suite 500 
(607) 266-7102 
FAX: (607) 257-1972 
rick@oracorp.com 

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