Stego-key-based image steganography scheme using edge detector and modulus function

Abstract

In this paper, an image steganography scheme is proposed with the intention to enhance the security along with the payload capacity of the cover image. To improve the embedding capacity of the cover image, the hiding process of secret message bits is furnished with the help of cover image characteristic, where more number of secret message bits are embedded into the edge-region instead of the smooth region of the cover image. The secret message bits are concealed into the cover image using the modulus function-based embedding process. For improving the security of the content, we have embedded the secret message bits into the cover-image with reference of keys, i.e., known as a stego-key. The scheme is implemented on some standard greyscale images and satisfactory results are achieved in terms of visual quality along with the higher payload.