Hiding data in dual color images reversibly via weighted matrix

Abstract

Hiding information in dual images is a new aspect in the field of multimedia security to increase security, enhance visual quality as well as improve embedding capacity. Few data hiding schemes have been developed employing interpolated gray-scale image suffering from limited hiding capacity with poor visual quality. In this paper, a dual image-based data hiding scheme has been developed with the help of weighted matrix in such a way that more than one data bits can be embedded with only one-bit alteration in the interpolated pixel of the original cover image. The proposed scheme is innovative and realistic because no secret data bits are directly embedded within the pixel but bit alteration has been carried out alternatively in the dual image block depending on the block number. Distributing the valuable secret information within two images and updating the weighted matrix with the shared key before each iteration enhances the security of the proposed scheme. The experimental results with comparison show the effectiveness of our developed scheme which provides visual quality more than 47 dB PSNR after embedding 1,754,460 bits secret information. The intended outcome brought into the limelight some remarkable sublime characteristics in the field of image authentication, tamper detection and digital forgery detection without which the technological life is stunted. Innumerable private and public sector facet including health care, commercial security, defence, intellectual property rights gets immensely benefited from this innovative scheme.