Optimizing Digital Image Steganography through Hybridization of LSB and Zstandard Compression

Abstract

In response to the growing need for secure digital communication globally, this research delves into an innovative strategy for enhancing data transmission security through steganography. This inventive approach involves the integration of the conventional Least Significant Bit (LSB) method with Zstandard (Zstd) compression to elevate the quality of stego images. The study carefully explores how the synergistic use of LSB and Zstd contributes to an improved equilibrium between embedding capacity and visual quality in stego images. This hybrid methodology capitalizes on the efficiency of Zstd in reducing file size, thereby facilitating more effective data concealment using LSB. The experimental outcomes showcase a notable 51.2% increase in embedding capacity, a 4.70% elevation in PSNR value, accompanied by a substantial 51.03% decrease in MSE value. Additionally, SSIM values hover around 0.007%, indicating a perceptually minimal difference between the original and steganographically modified images. These compelling results underscore the efficacy of the proposed method, highlighting its proficiency in preserving and enhancing the quality of stego images generated through the embedding process. This research signifies a significant stride in the realm of secure digital communication, demonstrating a promising fusion of traditional LSB with advanced Zstd compression for optimizing digital image steganographic.