In an image processing apparatus which has an operating system (102) and
scanner driver (103), is connected to a scanner (104) for reading
an original and converting it into an image signal, and stores image data read
by manipulating the scanner (104), a forgery determination processing module
(103-2) of the scanner driver (103) compares the read digital
watermark data with specific image data to determine the matching degree, and an
anti-forgery control module (106) controls predetermined image processing
on the basis of the determination result for the image data read by the scanner
driver (103).