An Image Steganography Algorithm using LSB Replacement through XOR Substitution

Abstract

Least Significant Bit replacement, a spatial domain algorithm, is the most popular and widely used technique in image steganography due to its simplicity and effectiveness. Different methods of data hiding in spatial domain have been proposed and continue to be improved upon. Among them, the LSB replacement method is quite simple and the most popular. However, because the LSB replacement method is quite simple, compared to the other methods, some of its security issues must be improved upon. This paper proposes a highly secured data hiding technique in the spatial domain of image steganography. The proposed scheme takes the message bit and performs XOR operation with the 7th bit of every RGB component and, after then, the produced output is embedded within the 8th bit of each component of RGB. The embedding procedure is done in a way that there will be no sign of original message inside the cover object and, obviously, without using any outside key. A detailed study of the proposed LSB replacement algorithm including PSNR- and MSE-based investigations has been made. Experimental results shows a very good peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) (55.90 dB for 65,536 bits of message within a 256x256 pixel cover image) and mean square error (MSE) value which indicates to less imperceptibility and more security. The comparative results prove that the proposed technique provides more security to secret information sharing, compared to other related techniques.