[2603.01067] Hide&Seek: Remove Image Watermarks with Negligible Cost via Pixel-wise Reconstruction

Computer Science > Cryptography and Security arXiv:2603.01067 (cs) [Submitted on 1 Mar 2026] Title:Hide&Seek: Remove Image Watermarks with Negligible Cost via Pixel-wise Reconstruction Authors:Huajie Chen, Tianqing Zhu, Hailin Yang, Yuchen Zhong, Yang Zhang, Hui Sun, Heng Xu, Zuobin Ying, Lihua Yin, Wanlei Zhou View a PDF of the paper titled Hide&Seek: Remove Image Watermarks with Negligible Cost via Pixel-wise Reconstruction, by Huajie Chen and 8 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:Watermarking has emerged as a key defense against the misuse of machine-generated images (MGIs). Yet the robustness of these protections remains underexplored. To reveal the limits of SOTA proactive image watermarking defenses, we propose HIDE&SEEK (HS), a suite of versatile and cost-effective attacks that reliably remove embedded watermarks while preserving high visual fidelity. Subjects: Cryptography and Security (cs.CR); Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI) Cite as: arXiv:2603.01067 [cs.CR]   (or arXiv:2603.01067v1 [cs.CR] for this version)   https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2603.01067 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Submission history From: Huajie Chen [view email] [v1] Sun, 1 Mar 2026 12:03:23 UTC (3,429 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Hide&Seek: Remove Image Watermarks with Negligible Cost via Pixel-wise Reconstruction, by Huajie Chen and 8 other authorsView PDFHTML (experimental)TeX Source view license Cu...