Abstract: The present invention provides systems and methods for digital content security. In one embodiment, a method includes generating an input key, generation of the input key comprising a sequence of operations, the operations including: performing at least one circular-bit-shift operation on a gradient image, and performing at least one block-wise permutation on the gradient image. One such method further includes performing a fragile watermark-embedding algorithm using the input key. Another such method includes utilizing the input key for encryption.