DATA ENCRYPTION USING IMAGE
STEGANOGRAPHY
Mr. Jala Prasadarao 1 T v n v k s swaroop 2
Assistant Professor
Department of Computer Science and Engineering Department of CSE
Godavari Institute of Engineering and Technology (A)
prasadarao@giet.ac.in saiswaroopt514@gmail.com
Balam Rahul 4
Student
Department of CSE
GIET(A)
balamrahul144@gmail.com
Abstract: Data is becoming increasingly important in the modern
days since information depends on raw data. Sharing resources
among distributed users who may be geographically separated
requires the sharing of information. Users should safeguard their
privacy and confidentiality while sharing data. This digitally
exchanged information should be translated into an unreadable
format that cannot be altered by outsiders. Data must be sent or
transmitted securely to prevent corruption by outsiders.
Steganography is a method that can be utilised to satisfy these
conditions. The technique of least significant bit (LSB) and a
symmetric key between the sender and receiver are used in this
research to hide data from the image. Additionally, it makes an
effort to pinpoint what qualities a strong steganography
algorithm should possess and makes a quick assessment of
different steganographic methods that are better suited for
specific uses.
Keywords: Cryptography, Steganography, Encryption, Decryption,
LSB.
I. INTRODUCTION
Steganography translates to "covered in concealed
writing." The goal of steganography is to deliver a message
through an innocent carrier to a recipient while hiding the fact
that the information is being sent to everyone from others.
Changes can be applied to the carriers, such as images or any
other media, using computer-based steganography.[1]
Information can be concealed in carriers including photos,
audio, text, video files, and data transmissions via
steganography. When the message is concealed within the
carrier, a stego carrier known as a stego-image, is created. The
human senses should be able to discern it as closely as
feasible to the actual bearer or cover image.
The different forms of media that can be used as cover
objects are Image, Audio and Video. The information that the
Shaik Asha Parveen 3
Student Student
Department of CSE
GIET (A) GIET (A)
ashaparveenshaik786@gmail.com
K Dilip Kumar 5
Student
Department of CSE
GIET (A)
dilipkumar0471@gmail.com
sender wants to remain private is known as the message, and it
will be included in the cover object using a stego system
encoder.
II. CRYPTOGRAPHY VS. STEGANOGRAPHY
The main aim of steganography and cryptography is to
promote secret communication. Steganography and
cryptography are not the same things, though. Steganography
conceals the information's very existence, whereas
cryptography protects the information's contents from hostile
individuals. Consequently, several techniques are employed to
undermine the system.[2]
The primary drawback of cryptographic algorithms is that
the cipher text can be seen but not read, and the plaintext may
be determined. Steganography prevents the intruder from
knowing if any confidential information is there. This method
is used to improve the security of data transmitted through
computer networks.
III. STEGANOGRAPHY PROCESS
The entire process of steganography is carried out in two
phases. They are Encryption and Decryption. The Encryption
operation is performed at the side of sender whereas the
Decryption operation is performed on the same image in
which the actual message was hidden by the sender. This
means both encryption and decryption are performed at two
different ends.
A secret Message refers to the information that is
needed to be inserted inside the media. The medium used in
the Steganography procedure is considered the cover media.
Stego-Media is the product of media that has been altered and
has had additional information hidden from view compared to
the original media.

Fig 1. Process of Steganography
IV. LEAST SIGNIFICANT BIT (LSB)
The LSB is the most widely used steganography technique.
Additionally, the current steganographic standard uses the
LSB of a picture's pixel data.
One section of the LSB makes use of this investigation.
Every pixel in the first image receives one piece of each
double content piece that is inserted. A 24-bit grayscale image
can have three bits encrypted into each pixel when employing
LSB techniques, as long as the record is longer than the
message document.[3] Example: Images can be used to
protect the data if the final bit of each color's byte is swapped
out for one from the message.
FIG 2. Message A Before Encryption
FIG 3. Ecrypted Message A
(a) . ZIGZAG SCANNING:
We used the Steganography-based Zigzag scanning
approach for the goal of increasing security. By turning the
secret message into bits, the approach described here uses
image pixels to conceal the hidden message.
The secret message bits are concealed using patterns in this
zigzag scanning. Only the sender and receiver will be aware
of this pattern. The recipient can get his secret message back
by following this pattern.
(b) . PSNR:
Peak Signal Noise Ratio, or PSNR, is a simple
calculation. It is employed to evaluate the calibre of
compressed pictures and movies. The resolution of the image
will be reduced if the PSNR is high.
IV. METHODOLOGY
The technique of least significant bit (LSB) and a
symmetric key between the sender and receiver are used in
this research to hide data from the image. We shall also see
how encryption and decryption are carried through in this. It is
necessary to retrieve the last two bits of each pixel, where the
LSB position is 0 and the bit immediately before the LSB is 1.
(a) . STEGANOGRAPHY USING LSB:
In this framework, we must use zigzag scanning with
size=R*S*8 to convert the picture pixels into binary
characteristics, where R represents how many lines there are
in the image, 8 bits make up each pixel, and S represents the
number of sections. Transform the secret riddle message into
coordinated qualities that are about 1*N in size, where N is
the number of bits in the mystery message, as you use this
procedure. We will just encourage the two double bits of the
secret message with the two LSB bits when it comes to
replacing the picture pixels and secret message.[4]
This procedure consists of three steps.
1. The key value is "0" if the secret message bit matches the
LSB's 0th position.
2. If the secret message bit matches the LSB position "1" in
this operation, the key value would be "1".
3. If the secret message bit does not match both position 1 and
position "0" of the LSB in this operation, the key value will be
"0."
Using this technique, we will get the key. This stego-key
will be securely shared by the sender and recipient. Without
this stego-key, the recipient will not be able to decipher the
sensitive information. Where the puzzle information should be
placed in the stego-picture is suggested by this stego-key.
This is the core stego-key of this framework. This key is
known as a dynamic symmetric key because it changes
depending on the image.
We use it similarly to how the size of the secret
message affects how it changes. We can demonstrate the
encryption and decryption procedures using this model.
(b) . ENCODING PROCESS: V. ENCODING

This encoding process is done at the sender side as the

sender is considered as the originator of the message or the
information that is to be encrypted securely so that it can be
stored or can be transmitted to the receiver.

(c) . EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS:

For computational check using appropriate models like

characters and image data, the developers designed a
MATLAB program. GUI has been created to transform the
amusement using specific rational concepts. This application
has used an image which is a jpeg file with a proportionate
size of (1024 X 1024).
- The zigzag scanning technique will be used to transform the
grayscale image into binary data.
- The amount of data (secret messages) that can be inserted in
the image is calculated using the LSB technique:
(1024 × 1024) – 27 = 1048549 bits
- The quantity of information (secret message) that can be
entered in this image is computed using the new system wa'el:
((1024 × 1024) – 27)/2 = 524261 bits.
The developed software will present an interface asking the
user to choose the encoding or decoding option depending on
usage. It will be displayed as,
• The "Message to be Embedded" section on the first
half of the encryption window is where the message
or private information should be written.
• Once the message is written, the sender has to select
the image into which the entered text form of
information will be embedded.
• By selecting the image with the open button at the
bottom, the user can choose it from the local
directories.
• After selecting the image, the stego-image can be
created by clicking the embed button which will
invoke the encryption algorithm and the confidential
information will be embedded into the chosen image.
• The stego-image will be displayed right beside the
initially selected image.
• By selecting the save into new file button at the
bottom, the generated stego-image can be saved and
transmitted to the recipient.

Vi. DECODING

The decoding or the decryption process is done at the

receiver. In general, the decoding process is basically
performed after the encryption. Here the decoding process is
done on the stego-image that was received from the sender
after embedding the information on to the actual image.

• In the process of decoding, the receiver or the user
who is performing the decoding operation is
supposed to select the received stego-image from the
open button which is present on the decryption
window.
• The encrypted image is displayed on the interface
which is absolutely identical to the original image
that is used for the encryption process.
• The user of the decoding window can view the
embedded original message by selecting the decode
button.
• Using this method, only the sender and the receiver
will be able to read the confidential message.
Vii. CONCLUSION
The method for properly encoding data in an 8-bit
colour image is described in this paper. The development of
various steganographic techniques as well as support for file
types other than bitmap are further features that could be
added to this project. However, anyone who desires to learn
more about steganography can get started by using this
research and software package.
Viii. REFERENCES
[1] J. Fridrich and M. Goljan, “Digital image steganography
Using stochastic modulation”, SPIE Symposium on
Electronic Imaging, San Jose, CA, 2023.
[2] Johnson, N.F. & Jajodia, S., ―Exploring Steganography:
Seeing the Unseen‖, Computer Journal, February 1998.
[3] Provos, N. & Honeyman, P., ―Hide and Seek: An
introduction to steganography‖, IEEE Security and
Privacy Journal, 2003.
[4] N.Provos and P. Honeyman, ―Detecting Steganographic
Content on the Internet, ‖ Proc. 2002 Network and
Distributed System Security Symp., Internet Soc., 2002.
[5] S.M..Metev and V. P. Veiko, Laser Assisted
Microtechnology, 2nd ed., R. M. Osgood, Jr., Ed. Berlin,
Germany: Springer-Verlag, 1998.
[6] J.Breckling, Ed., The Analysis of Directional Time Series:
Applications to Wind Speed and Direction, ser. Lecture
Notes in Statistics. Berlin, Germany: Springer, 1989, vol.
61
[7] S. Zhang, C. Zhu, J. K. O. Sin, and P. K. T. Mok, “A
novel ultrathin elevated channel low-temperature poly-Si
TFT,” IEEE Electron Device Lett., vol. 20, pp. 569–571,
Nov. 1999.
[8] M. Wegmuller, J. P. von der Weid, P. Oberson, and N.
Gisin, “High resolution fiber distributed measurements
with coherent OFDR,” in Proc. ECOC’00, 2000, paper
11.3.4, p. 109
[9] R. E. Sorace, V. S. Reinhardt, and S. A. Vaughn, “High-
speed digital-to-RF converter,” U.S. Patent 5 668 842,
Sept. 16, 1997.
[10] M.Shell.(2002) IEEEtran homepage on CTAN.
[Online].Available:http://www.ctan.org/tex-
archive/macros/latex/contrib/supported/IEEEtran/
[11] A. Karnik, “Performance of TCP congestion control with
rate feedback: TCP/ABR and rate adaptive TCP/IP,” M.
Eng. thesis, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India,
Jan. 1999.
[12] J. Padhye, V. Firoiu, and D. Towsley, “A stochastic
model of TCP Reno congestion avoidance and control,”
Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, CMPSCI Tech.
Rep. 99-02, 1999.
[13] Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and
Physical Layer (PHY) Specification, IEEE Std. 802.11,
1997.
[14] (2002) The IEEE website. [Online]. Available:
http://www.ieee.org/
[15] FLEXChip Signal Processor (MC68175/D), Motorola,
1996.