Towards an Image Encryption Scheme with Content-Based Image Retrieval Properties

Abstract. In this paper we introduce a new secure cryptographic scheme, named IES-CBIR, specifically designed for images and their outsourced storage and retrieval in large private image repositories. Our solution enables both encrypted storage and querying using Content Based Im-age Retrieval (CBIR), while preserving privacy. We have implemented a prototype system around the proposed scheme, and experimentally an-alyzed its performance when compared to similar proposals for privacy-preserving image retrieval. Our results show that IES-CBIR allows more efficient operations than existing proposals, both in terms of time and space overheads, while enabling less restrictive application scenarios.