A Robust Image Steganography Technique Using Dynamic Embedding with Two Least Significant Bits

Information security is endlessly a challenging technology of the world. Image steganography is the technique through which the terribly confidential information can be hidden in a coated image so that, it should be quite unendurable to extract the said information by the intruder or by any snooping. In this research article an innovative technique is proposed which reveals steganography along with cryptography for more robustness to secret data, highest Least Significant Bit (LSB) implanting technique, and secrets information in divergent language (national language) above and beyond the English language secret communication. Here we have arbitrarily chosen Arabic, Urdu and English languages for secret information keeping in mind that this may give strongest illusion to the intruders. This novel approach comprehends in the senders side for encryption of Arabic, Urdu and English secret information using matrix substitution cipher algorithm, embedding position in the career image by using combination function with mod calculation, dynamically insertion of the cipher text bits in the career image at 5th to 8th bit location using the position indicator value and subsequently stego image is formed and then communicated over the network and in the reverse process once again it will be decrypted at receiver side to get the secret information. In this proposed technique instead of using Arabic, Urdu alphabets and digits directly, and Unicode's of the corresponding Arabic, Urdu alphabets and digits is used. Performance analysis observed using MSE and PSNR.

In this paper we are proposing a technique for secret communication between Alice and Bob. We are using both cryptography and steganography. Firstly, we encrypt the secret message using our new cipher algorithm called twelve square substitution cipher algorithm, and then embed the cipher text in the carrier image in 6 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">th</sup> and 7 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">th</sup> bit locations or 7 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">th</sup> and 8 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">th</sup> bit locations or 6 and 8 bit locations of the different pixels (bytes) of the carrier image depending on the value of an index variable. Here the 8 bit means the least significant bit (LSB) location, the 7 bit means the LSB minus one location and the 6 bit means the LSB minus two location. The index variable value can be 0 or 1 or 2. The index variable value will change from 0 to 1 or 1 to 2 or 2 to 0 after each embedding. The initial value of the index variable depends upon the length of the cipher text. After embedding the resultant image should be sent to the receiver and receiver should retrieve the cipher text from the said locations and then decrypt by using the twelve square cipher algorithm to get the secret message. The embedding locations are not same in all pixels, so it is a stronger approach. The algorithm is implemented using Java programming language. The experimental results says that the algorithm performs well.

Today, in this new era of the internet, Information Security is becoming the biggest challenge for the world due to the rapid growth of internet users day by day. Unauthorized access to secret data can have serious repercussions like a financial loss. One of the best techniques for secure communication is Steganography-or covert writing. It is an art of hiding the very existence of communicating the message itself. This research presents a state of dual stenographic technique. Dual Steganography combines two security mechanisms, steganography and cryptography both together. This mechanism has the advantage of providing high security and low time complexity. This research proposes a dual steganography technique with an additional level of security. The proposed algorithm embeds secret text messages in cover image in two phases. The two phases include a chaotic map cipher technique for encrypting text and LSB (Least Significant Bit) image steganography technique for hiding encrypted text in an image. The text containing encrypted data is hidden in an RGB image.

When files are created, there are always bits that are not really needed and are not at least important. These bits have the capability of being changed with the information which must be hidden in the file, without damage and changes in the file. There are different methods of image steganography, among which Least Significant Bit (LSB) method is the most common one and we intend to use this method for making stego image. A LSB replacement-based newly developed method (the least significant bit) has been presented in 24 bit color images. We propose a newly developed method of information security in RGB color images using a combined method composed of a two-component method based on the replacement and adaptation of LSB for hiding information and providing more security level. We have used Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) for resisting against attacks, a combined filtering and different disorders.

Based on the NEQR of quantum images, a new quantum gray-scale image watermarking scheme is proposed through Arnold scrambling and least significant bit (LSB) steganography. The sizes of the carrier image and the watermark image are assumed to be $$2n\times 2n$$ and $$n\times n$$ , respectively. Firstly, a classical $$n\times n$$ sized watermark image with 8-bit gray scale is expanded to a $$2n\times 2n$$ sized image with 2-bit gray scale. Secondly, through the module of PA-MOD N, the expanded watermark image is scrambled to a meaningless image by the Arnold transform. Then, the expanded scrambled image is embedded into the carrier image by the steganography method of LSB. Finally, the time complexity analysis is given. The simulation experiment results show that our quantum circuit has lower time complexity, and the proposed watermarking scheme is superior to others.

Spatial LSB±1 steganography changes smooth characteristics between adjoining pixels of the raw image. We present a novel steganalysis method for LSB±1 steganography based on feature vectors derived from the co-occurrence matrix in the spatial domain. We investigate how LSB±1 steganography affects the bit planes of an image and show that it changes more least significant bit (LSB) planes of it. The co-occurrence matrix is derived from an image in which some of its most significant bit planes are clipped. By this preprocessing, in addition to reducing the dimensions of the feature vector, the effects of embedding were also preserved. We compute the co-occurrence matrix in different directions and with different dependency and use the elements of the resulting co-occurrence matrix as features. This method is sensitive to the data embedding process. We use a Fisher linear discrimination (FLD) classifier and test our algorithm on different databases and embedding rates. We compare our scheme with the current LSB±1 steganalysis methods. It is shown that the proposed scheme outperforms the state-of-the-art methods in detecting the LSB±1 steganographic method for grayscale images.

Steganography is the practice of hiding information and is well known for concealing the existence of the communication. This technique deals with the insertion of the secret message in an appropriate carrier like writing, audio. Out of these carriers, digital writing (text file) message are mostly preferred because of their wide usage on the Internet. The LSB modification technique allows the secret information to be embedded in the least significant bit of the cover message but this technique can be broken very easily. MATLAB software has been used for the execution of steganography. This paper is used Least Significant Bit (LSB) modification technique. Two techniques are being proposed which work on the basis works on the current sample bits. These techniques spread the secret message on different bits of the sample. The methodology has also involved an AES encryption scheme as a backup in case the steganography algorithm has been broken. This will not compromise the confidentiality of the secret information and implemented Point to Point link between two pc.

This paper introduces a best approach for Least Significant Bit (LSB) based on image steganography that enhances the existing LSB substitution techniques to improve the security level of hidden information. It is a new approach to substitute LSB of RGB true color image. The new security conception hides secret information within the LSB of image where a secret key encrypts the hidden information to protect it from unauthorized users. In general, in LSB methods, hidden information is stored into a specific position of LSB of image. For this reason, knowing the retrieval methods, anyone can extract the hidden information. In our paper, hidden information is stored into different position of LSB of image depending on the secret key. As a result, it is difficult to extract the hidden information knowing the retrieval methods. We have used the Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) to measure the quality of the stego images. The value of PSNR gives better result because our proposed method changes very small number of bits of the image. The obtained results show that the proposed method results in LSB based image steganography using secret key which provides good security issue and PSNR value than general LSB based image steganography methods.

In this paper, the problem of secure transmission of sensitive contents over the public network Internet is addressed by proposing a novel data hiding method in encrypted images with dual-level security. The secret information is divided into three blocks using a specific pattern, followed by an encryption mechanism based on the three-level encryption algorithm (TLEA). The input image is scrambled using a secret key, and the encrypted sub-message blocks are then embedded in the scrambled image by cyclic18 least significant bit (LSB) substitution method, utilizing LSBs and intermediate LSB planes. Furthermore, the cover image and its planes are rotated at different angles using a secret key prior to embedding, deceiving the attacker during data extraction. The usage of message blocks division, TLEA, image scrambling, and the cyclic18 LSB method results in an advanced security system, maintaining the visual transparency of resultant images and increasing the security of embedded data. In addition, employing various secret keys for image scrambling, data encryption, and data hiding using the cyclic18 LSB method makes the data recovery comparatively more challenging for attackers. Experimental results not only validate the effectiveness of the proposed framework in terms of visual quality and security compared to other state-of-the-art methods, but also suggest its feasibility for secure transmission of diagnostically important keyframes to healthcare centers and gastroenterologists during wireless capsule endoscopy.

The research objective is to hide messages through images using the LSB (Least Significant Bit) method and Caesar Chipper and Rivest Code 4 encryption. The LSB (Least Significant Bit) method is used as a message hiding technique in steganography where hiding hidden messages is done by changing a few bits in the segment. image with a secret message. The results of this study resulted in an implementation using the Least Significant Bit (LSB) to be applied to institutions with an interest in maintaining the confidentiality of encrypted image output, changing the image file size and sound (audio) file size.

Data hiding is a process that secretly embedding information inside a data source without changing its original quality. Two popular techniques are steganography and cryptography [1]. Steganography is the art and science of hiding information by embedding messages into another image, audio or video [2]. Cryptography use mathematics to encrypt and decrypt data and transform plaintext into cipher text [3]. This study is about securing message by implementing the combination of steganography using Least Significant Bit (LSB) technique and cryptography using Vigenere cipher [4]. The methodology use is cyclic waterfall model. This model is simple and easy to understand. The phases also do not overlap with each other. The testing involves the process of embedding plaintext and cipher text into cover image. The results from the testing are the Mean Squared Error (MSE) and Peak Signal Noise Ratio (PSNR) value of the stego-image. The lower the MSE value and the higher the PSNR value is better image quality.

Background and Objective: The public and group communication carried out in the social, cloud, and mobile networks suffer from unauthorized users. The data security is required for secure authentication, monetary transactions and other sensitive information. The steganography methods empower the user with invulnerable communication in public domain. In this paper, a region secure and pattern based alternate 2B-3C (2Bit-3Channel) Steganography method is proposed to improve the content reliability and data security. Methods: In this method, the cover pixels are retrieved by applying the spiral rectangular pattern over the cover image. This spiral pattern also secures the core content region and the pixels from the core ROI (Region of Interest) is used as a cover only for larger size secret information. In this proposed steganography method, two channels are considered alternatively based on the defined rules. The LSB (Least Significant Bit) of both channels is XOR with input data bits and key to perform data hiding. The method is applied on real time color images taken from COREL and USC-SIPI-ID. The evaluation of proposed steganography approach is done using MSE (Mean Square Error), PSNR (Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio), BER (Bit Error Rate), NCC (Normalized Cross Correlation) and SSIM (Structural Similarity Index Matrix). Result: The comparative results are generated for 50 real time images against the existing LSB (Least Significant Bit), LSBM (Least Significant Bit Modulation), LSBMR (Least Significant bit Matched Revisited), SCC (Stego Color Cycle), SHSI (Simple Hue-Saturation-Intensity), HIS-MLSB(Simple Hue-Saturation-Intensity-Modified LSB) and IMMEA(Iterative Magic Matrix Encryption Algorithm) methods. Conclusion: The experimentation results verified that the proposed 2B-3C approach improved the data hiding in qualitative and quantitative aspects.

There is a huge resource of data available on the internet which one can access without realizing that the person is even authorized to access it or not. The hard work of the original resource person can easily be compromised. Digital watermarking is an answer to overcome this issue. This paper introduces a hybrid of LSB and DCT techniques, LSB(Least Significant Bit) and DCT(Discrete Cosine Transformation). The paper studies the two techniques along with the proposed technique and a comparison is drawn between the three based on MSE and PSNR values obtained. The introduced hybrid technique performs better in comparison to DCT and LSB. The MSE calculated was 64% better than LSB and 60% better than DCT resultantly PSNR is also observed to be better than LSB and DCT.

We investigate the application of distributed source coding to a single-channel speech or audio signal. We compare two methods. In the first, we encode signal sequences using low-density parity check codes in an approach that resembles methods used in video coding. In the second, we encode each sample with only a set of least significant bits (LSB) of the quantization index. In both methods the parameters of a statistical signal model are estimated at the encoder and transmitted to the decoder. The signal model is used only at the decoder. Our results indicate that the LSB coding method is more effective. We show that the order-k entropy of a sequence of LSBs converges more quickly to the entropy rate of the scalar quantized signal than the order-k entropy of the quantized signal itself. As a result, we can approach the rate-distortion bound by applying entropy coding to successive short (several samples) segments of the sequence of LSB sample. The LSB coding method can be extended to lattice quantization.

The secure communication of information is a major concern over the internet. The information must be protected before transmitting over a communication channel to avoid security violations. In this paper, a new hybrid method called compressed encrypted data embedding (CEDE) is proposed. In CEDE, the secret information is first compressed with Lempel Ziv Welch (LZW) compression algorithm. Then, the compressed secret information is encrypted using the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) symmetric block cipher. In the last step, the encrypted information is embedded into an image of size 512 × 512 pixels by using image steganography. In the steganographic technique, the compressed and encrypted secret data bits are divided into pairs of two bits and pixels of the cover image are also arranged in four pairs. The four pairs of secret data are compared with the respective four pairs of each cover pixel which leads to sixteen possibilities of matching in between secret data pairs and pairs of cover pixels. The least significant bits (LSBs) of current and imminent pixels are modified according to the matching case number. The proposed technique provides double-folded security and the results show that stego image carries a high capacity of secret data with adequate peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) and lower mean square error (MSE) when compared with existing methods in the literature.