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Revisiting the steganography techniques with a novel region-based separation approach

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A Correction to this article was published on 14 March 2024

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Abstract

Cryptography and steganography are employed to secure digital data transfers. We introduced an efficient region-based steganography pipeline to enhance security by concealing confidential information within an image. Our approach involves isolating the blue channel from the cover image, partitioning it into blocks, identifying smooth blocks, and embedding the message in the Least Significant Bit (LSB). Smooth blocks were determined using the Pixel Value Differencing (PVD) method, which compares a specific pixel value to the block’s average pixel value (M) of the particular block. Concealed areas exhibit greater imperceptibility in smooth regions than in rough ones. We performed experiments on a carefully chosen image set and assessed the performance of the region-based steganography method using widely recognized metrics such as PSNR, MSE, and SSIM. These metrics were applied to a widely recognized benchmark dataset for comparison. Results indicate significantly improved PSNR and SSIM levels for selected images, confirming the suitability of smooth, edge-free regions for concealing hidden messages with greater imperceptibility. We compared our method with recently published steganography methods and observed a significant enhancement in its ability to conceal information effectively.

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Algorithm 1
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Algorithm 2
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Notes

  1. https://github.com/Lojenaa/Region-based-separation-in-Steganography.git

Abbreviations

LSB:

Least Significant Bit

PVD:

Pixel Value Differencing

M:

Average Pixel Value / Mean value

PSNR:

Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio

MSE:

Mean Square Error

SSIM:

Structural Similarity Index

DE:

Difference Expansion

MPV:

Mid Position Value

RGB:

Red, Green, Blue

XOR:

Exclusive disjunction

RDH:

Reversible Data Hiding

MPVD:

Modified Pixel Value Differencing

n-RBR:

n-Rightmost Bit Replacement

IoT:

Internet of Things

cpc:

Count of critical pixels

B:

Block / Selected Block

q:

Number of blocks

N:

Number of rows/columns

cp:

Changed pixels

len:

Length

CBC:

Cover Blue Channel

CRC:

Cover Red Channel

CGC:

Cover Green Channel

SBC:

Stego Blue Channel

SB:

Stego Block

CB:

Cover Block

C:

Cover Image

S:

Stego Image

m:

Number of rows

n:

Number of columns

BPP:

Bit Per Pixel

GS:

Gray Scale

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information and Communication Technology, Sri Lanka - German Training Institute (SLGTI), Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka

    Romiyal George

  2. Department of Information and Communication Technology, University of Vavuniya, Vavuniya, Sri Lanka

    Lojenaa Navanesan

  3. Department of Physical Science, University of Vavuniya, Vavuniya, Sri Lanka

    Kartheeswaran Thangathurai

Authors
  1. Romiyal George
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  2. Lojenaa Navanesan
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  3. Kartheeswaran Thangathurai
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kartheeswaran Thangathurai.

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We have no conflicts of interest to disclose. Data sharing not applicable to this article as no any specific datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

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The original online version of this article was revised: The original publication of this article contains discrepancies between the HML and PDF versions. The HTML version contains the following errors: In the affiliation of the first author, “Killinochchi” should be “Kilinochchi”. In the Abbreviations section, “BPP: Bit Per Rate” should be “BPP: Bit Per Pixel” In Algorithm 1, line 10, “cpc < 4” should be “cpc \(\le \) 4”. In table 6 note, “BPP - Bit Per Rate” should be “BPP - Bit Per Pixel”.

Appendices

Appendix A: Dataset

Table 9 Sample experimental images in five categories
Full size table

Appendix B: Comprehensive Embedding Mechanism

Fig. 10
figure 10

Demonstration of the embedding process of the proposed method

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Appendix C: Comprehensive Extraction Mechanism

Fig. 11
figure 11

Flowchart of the recovering process of concealed message

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George, R., Navanesan, L. & Thangathurai, K. Revisiting the steganography techniques with a novel region-based separation approach. Multimed Tools Appl 83, 71089–71114 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-023-17961-8

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