Developing Algorithms for Image Steganography and Increasing the Capacity Depending on Choosing the Best Pixels

Abstract

Steganography is a vital technique for transferring confidential information via an insecure network. In addition, digital images are used as a cover to communicate sensitive information. The Least Significant Bit (LSB) method is one of the simplest ways to insert secret data into a cover image. In this paper, the secret text is compressed twice by an Arithmetic coding algorithm, and the resulting secret bits are hidden in the cover pixels of the image corresponding to the pixels of each of the following three methods, one of three methods is used in each experiment: The first method, the edges of the image are modified to increase the number of edges, in the second method the lighter-colored regions are selected, and in the third method, the two methods are combined together to increase security and keep the secret message unrecognized. Hiding in each of the previous methods is done by using the LSB technique in the last 2-bit. The correction approach is used to increase the stego image's imperceptibility. The experimental results show that with an average message size of 29.8 kb, the average Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) for the second proposed (Light regions) method equals 62.76 dB and for the third proposed (Edge and region) method equals 62.72 dB, which is a reasonable result when compared to other steganographic techniques.