Byzantine Resilient Waves Interference-based Visual Encryption Scheme

Known Visual Encryption Scheme (VES) schemes encode the secret image pixels into n subpixel maps (shares) of size $m \times m$, where m is a parameter of the scheme. The pixel encoding is based on some pixel visual property, for example transparency. The resulting pixel maps contain black and white pixels and look like random collection of black and white pixels, such that it is impossible to reconstruct the original pixel. To reconstruct the original secret image, at least k out of n shares must be stacked together, where k is the scheme parameter. The reconstructed image appears grey, with varying shades of darker and lighter pixels. In this work, we introduce an optical VES solution that utilizes a physical model of wave interference. The image reconstructed using the proposed VES consists of pure black and white pixels, while maintaining the computational efficiency of traditional VES methods. An additional advantage of the proposed VES scheme is its enhanced security model. Besides being perfectly information-theoretic secure against honest and curious adversaries, it is also resilient against active, Byzantine adversaries. The proposed VES can be utilized in Flying Adhoc Networks, where a swarm of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles collaborates to search for a target based on a pre-assigned secret image.