Chaos-Based Image Encryption Using DNA Manipulation and a Modified Arnold Transform

Abstract

Digital images, which we store and communicate everyday, may contain confidential information that must not be exposed to others. Numerous researches are interested in encryption, which protects the images from ending up in the hands of unauthorized third parties. This paper proposes an image encryption scheme using chaotic systems, DNA manipulation, and a modified Arnold transform. Both DNA manipulation and hyperchaotic Lorenz system are utilized in the substitution of the images’ pixel values. An additional role of hyperchaotic Lorenz system is that it generates the random numbers required within the DNA manipulation steps. DNA cycling is implemented based on simple DNA coding rules and DNA addition and subtraction rules with modulus operation. The modified Arnold transform alters the pixels’ positions, where it guarantees effective pixel permutation that never outputs the same input pixels arrangement again. The proposed design is simple and amenable for hardware realization. Several well established performance evaluation tests including statistical properties of the encrypted image, key space, and differential attack analysis were conducted for several images. The proposed scheme passed the tests and demonstrated good results compared to several recent chaos-based image encryption schemes.