Reversible Steganographic Scheme with High Embedding Capacity using Dual Cover Images

Abstract

The advances in Internet technology and digital image representation helped the user to easily exchange the secret message. On Internet the transmission of the secret message is conducted using digital images which created new needs, issues and opportunities to the researcher. The basic objective of secret message communication is to transmit a message securely by embedding it into a cover-image such that unintended observers are unable to detect it. The image steganographic schemes are used in secret message communication. In this paper, we have proposed reversible steganographic scheme for gray-scale images. This scheme uses dual cover images to hide secret image and generates the perceptually similar dual stegoimages. Further, to extract the secret image the knowledge of dual stegoimages and stego-key are necessary which improved the security of this scheme. The experimental results show that the scheme provides a higher embedding capacity and robustness with un-noticeable distortions in the stegoimages. The performance of the scheme is analyzed for various types of image processing attacks on stegoimage. The proposed scheme was found rigid to the image processing attacks.