ABSTRACT

In our project, a novel image Steganography technique based on Most Significant Bit
(MSB) of image pixels is proposed. Steganography is an established method for hiding data from
an unauthorized access. Steganographic techniques hide secret data in different file formats such
as: image, text, audio, and video. Invisibility, payload capacity, and security in terms of PSNR
and robustness are the key challenges to Steganography. Bit No. 5 is used to store the secret bits
based on the difference of bit No. 5 and 6 of cover image. If the difference of bit No. 5 and 6 is
different from secret data bit then the value of bit No. 5 is changed. The results state that the
proposed technique ensures significant improvements in signal to noise ratio. Usually, the
hackers focus on LSB bits for secret data extraction but the proposed technique utilizes the MSB
bits that make it more secure from unauthorized access. Furthermore, the presented technique is
not only secure, but computationally efficient as well.

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CHAPTER-I

1
 CHAPTER-I

1.1 Introduction

Steganography is the art of hiding the fact that communication is taking place, by hiding
information in other information. Many different carrier file formats can be used, but digital
images are the most popular because of their frequency on the internet. For hiding secret
information in images, there exists a large variety of steganography techniques some are more
complex than others and all of them have respective strong and weak points. Different
applications may require absolute invisibility of the secret information, while others require a
large secret message to be hidden. This project report intends to give an overview of image
steganography, its uses and techniques. It also attempts to identify the requirements of a good
steganography algorithm and briefly reflects on which steganographic techniques are more
suitable for which applications.

1.2 EXISTING SYSTEM

Image steganography technique based on LSB bit with grey scale and RGB image.

1.3 PROPOSED SYSTEM

Image steganography technique based on MSB bit using RGB and GREY scale image

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CHAPTER-II

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 CHAPTER-II

2.1 LITERATURE SURVEY

This chapter provides necessary review of literature which includes steganographic

algorithms and encryption algorithms. There are several surveys that have already been done in
this area of this knowledge. Some of the studies are discussed in this chapter.

2015:g.prashanti and k.sandiyarani have done survey on recent achievements on LSB based
image steganography. In the survey author discussed the improvements that enhance
steganography results such as high, robustness, high embedding capacity and un-detect ability of
hidden information. Along with this survey two new techniques are also proposed. First
technique is used to embed data or secret messages into the cover image and the second
technique is the secret grey scale image is embedded into another grey scale image. This
techniques use four state table that produce pseudo random numbers. This is used for embedding
the secret information. These two methods have greater security because secret information is
hidden on random selected locations of lsb of the image with the help of pseudo random numbers
generated by the table.

2014-2015: Savita Goel et al. In proposed a new method of embedding secret messages in cover
image using different progressions. Authors compare the quality of stego image with respect to
cover image using number of image quality parameters such as peak signal to noise ratio
(PSNR), mean square error (MSE), histograms and CPU time, structure similarity index measure
(SSIM) and feature similarity index measure (FSIM). Their study and experimental results shows
that their proposed method is fast and highly efficient as compared to basic LSB methods.

2015: Della Baby et al. proposed a “Novel DWT based image securing method using
steganography”. In their work new steganography technique is proposed in which multiple RGB
images are embedded into single RGB image using DWT steganography technique the cover
image is divided into 3 colours i.e. Red, green and blue colour space. These three colour space
are utilized to hide secret information. Experimental results obtained using literature review on
digital image steganography and cryptography algorithms to compare the quality of stego image

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and original cover image. Proposed method has good level of PSNR and SSIM index values.
Authors have that their experimental results are better than existing approaches and have
increased embedding capacity because of data compression. So overall security of their approach
is high with less perceptible changes in stego image.

2015: Bingwen Feng, Wei Lu, and Wei sun in their paper “secure binary image steganography
based on minimizing the distortion on the texture” proposed a state of the art approach of binary
image steganography. This technique is proposed to minimize the distortion on the texture. In
this method of steganography firstly the rotation, complement and mirroring invariant texture
patterns are extracted from the binary image. They also proposed measurement this approach is
practically implemented. Practical results show that proposed steganographic approach has high
statistical security with high stego image quality and high embedding capacity.

2015:M.Nusrati et al. have done study on heuristic genetic algorithm based steganographic
method for hiding security information in a cover image. This method optimally find the
appropriate locations in cover image to embed the secret information by focusing on the “before
embedding hiding techniques”. It tries to make least changes in the bits which lead to minimal
modifications in image histogram. To cover the lsbs and secret message to set of blocks,
segmentation is done in this genetic algorithm. After this algorithm finds the appropriate
locations for embedding, the secret blocks are embedded and it generates the key file which is
used during message extraction process. Experimental results show that this genetic based
method is more efficient than basic LSB algorithm with high stego image quality.

2014: Kazem Qazanfari and Reza safabakhsh proposed an improved version of LSB++
approach. In this improved LSb++ they make distinction between sensitive pixels and allow
protecting them from embedding of extra bits, which results in lower distortion in the co-
occurrence matrices. They also extend this method to preserve DCT coefficients of JPEG format
images. This improved method results in fewer traces in the histogram and hence histograms of
both cover image as well as stego image will be same. The quality of stego images is also high
because of elimination of extra bit embedding.

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2014: on the based on Huffman coding, Amitava Nag et al. present a novel steganographic
technique of LSB substitution. Their technique basically focuses on high security, larger
embedding capacity and acceptable level of stego image quality. Firstly Huffman tree is
produced to encode every 8 bits of secret image. After encoding, they divide the encoded bits
into four parts and have 0 to 3 decimals values. Experimental results show that it is very difficult
for attacker to extract the secret information because Huffman table decrease the size of the
cover image. Proposed techniques just have acceptable level of PSNR values and lie between 30
db to 31 db.

2014: N. Akhtar et al. In present and implement the improved version of traditional LSB image
steganography technique. Their work enhances the quality of stego image using bit inversion
method. These both techniques resolves around bit inversion techniques in which lsbs of pixels
of carrier image are inverted only and only if they arise with specific pattern of pixel’s bits. This
leads to lesser modification in pixels is compared to traditional LSB method. For correct retrieval
of secret messages, inverted bits need to be embedded somewhere within the stego image.
Experimental results demonstrate that PSNR value of stego image is improved; hence stego
image quality is improved.

2014:P.U.Deshmuk et al. also present the edge adaptive steganography technique for colour
RGB images to improve the security level of data transfer through internet. 24 bit RGB image is
utilized as cover image to embed secret data in red, green and blue pixels. X-box mapping is
used and several boxes contain 16 different values. Here “X” represent any integer number from
0 to 9. After this values saved in X-boxes are mapped with lsbs of carrier image. Thus this
mapping provides high level of security to hidden information. PSNR value is also calculated
and it has high PSNR value which leads to greater stego image quality.

2013:M. R. Modi et al. proposed a novel steganography technique to embed secret information
of lsbs of cover image. In their method least two significant bits of edges are Utilized to store
secret message as edge regions are very good areas to embed to secret Information than other
smooth regions of cover image.

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In this method edge region are Detected on basis of amount of secret information, which means
it does adaptive edge Detection. Experimental results analysis shows that their method performs
better than Traditional LSB image steganographic methods and has greater security against
visual Attacks.

2013:D. Samidha and D. Agrawal in their research paper “Random Image Steganography in
spatial Domain” study various image steganographic methods and proposed a LSB based
steganography method using random bit selection. In their Techniques least significant bit is
selected randomly for embedding the secret information inside the cover image. They also
proposed some more technique based on random pixels of cover image and secret information is
embedded in randomly selected bits of random pixels. Intensity values, location of pixels etc.
Parameters are used for this purpose.

2012: In author proposes an enhanced LSB algorithm for image steganography. In this proposed
work they only embed secret information in blue component of the RGB color space. In their
technique first M*N size cover is selected. After selection of cover Image only blue component
is used for embedding secret information. They also make use of pixel filters to access the best
regions to embed information in cover image to obtain Literature Review on digital image
steganography and cryptography algorithms best possible rate. Experimental results show that
this technique reduces the distortion level of cover image and stego image has very good visible
quality and changes in cover image are negligent to Human visual Systems(HVS). This method
reduces the leap in color scale because only blue components are used to embed the secret
information.

2012:S.Sachdeva and A. Kumar use the vector quantization table to embed the secret
information. They present new method of steganography named as JMQT based on Modified QT
(Quantization Table). They also compare their proposed approach with JPEG-Jsteg
steganography method. Embedding capacity and stego image size are used as performance
analysis parameters and experimental results are also compared with JPEG-Jsteg method.

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Experimental results show that the hidden capacity and stego size has been increased. Hence
JMQT system has good capacity whereas JPEG-jsteg has better stego-size.

2011:S.M.M. Karin et al.proposed a new approach that provides very good security to secret
data. They use LSB approach with secret key. This secret key is used to hide the sensitive
information and this information is stored on different LSB bits of image. This steganography
technique use RGB true color images for embedding process. This technique embeds the secret
information inside in LSB of the cover image and secret key is used to encrypt the secret
information to avoid unauthorized access. Depending upon the secret key used, secret
information is randomly stored on different location of lsbs of cover image which make this
system more robust and make difficult for attacker to extract the hidden secret information.
Experimental results represent that this method generates good PSNR value and provide greater
security to hidden information than traditional LSB based steganographic method.

2010: On the basis of human visual system (HVS) X. Qing et al. proposed a new technique in
which sensitive information is embedded in all planes of RGB components of an image. In this
technique multiple plan-bits used with adaptive nature of information hiding algorithm. This
proposed method has high embedding capacity than traditional LSB method and low
computational complexity. Proposed system also has good quality of stego image.

2010: Che-Wei Lee and Wen-Hsiang Tsai in proposed a new method of steganography which
uses PNG images to hide secret information. Shamir’s method for secret sharing is utilized to
produce partial shares from the given data string with the help of some polynomial’s coefficients
as data carrier for computing the shares. These partial shares are then embedded into alpha
channel (Transparent regions) and generate the stego image which has white noise. Small prime
number can be used to reduce the white noise. Proposed method has effective data capacity of
hiding data with enhanced security level and stego image quality.

2009: H. Yang et al. presented a new adaptive LSB based method for image steganography. It
uses the pixel adjustment technique for better stego image quality.

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This adaptive LSB substitution results in high hidden capacity. In LSB based image
steganography method is proposed. To hide the data common bit pattern is used. According to
the message and the pattern bits LSB’s of pixels are modified. This method has low hidden
capacity.

2015: D.Debnath et al. proposed a security scheme in which stenography is used along with
cryptography to provide better security to embedded data. In their method first data is encrypted
then it is embedded into cover image using steganographic method. Proposed algorithm
transforms any kind of message into text with the help of manipulation tables, and then carries
out hill cipher methods to it and finally hides the data into data red, blue, and green pixels of the
cover image. They use number of image quality parameters like MSE, PSNR, AD, SC, NAE and
MD.

2014:D.E.M. Ahmed and O.O khalifa in present a technique in which LSB image steganography
is used along with Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) to offer greater security to data. In the
proposed work sender is allowed to choose a suitable cover image and secret information, In this
process secret information is first encrypted using elliptic curve cryptography and then this
ciphered secret information is embedded into cover image using least significant bit image
steganography method.

2014: Nouf A. Al –Otaibi et al. designed a new system called 2-layer security system for hiding
the sensitive information on personal computers. They divide the system in two layer namely
cryptography layer and steganography layer. For streganography layer LSB algorithm is used
and for cryptography layer AES algorithm is utilized. This system is designed on visual basic
platform. Authors have also done study on improving hidden capacity by conducted several test.
They use 1 to 2 bits of LSB to embed secret message in cover image. 30 different types of fixed
size images are used in their study to explore the data dependency and security of this method.
They conclude that effect of 1LSB and 2LSB is minimal in stego image but with 3LSB,4LSB,
5LSB, 6LSB and 7LSB the image is distorted to visible levels and have very low quality of stego
image which is not ideal for image steganography.

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CHAPTER-III

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 CHAPTER-III

3.1 GENERAL STEGANOGRAPHY

Steganography is the practice of hiding private or sensitive information within something

that appears to be nothing out to the usual. Steganography is often confused with cryptology
because the two are similar in the way that they both are used to protect important information.
The difference between two is that steganography involves hiding information so it appears that
no information is hidden at all. If a person or persons views the object that the information is
hidden inside of he or she will have no idea that there is any hidden information, therefore the
person will not attempt to decrypt the information. What steganography essentially does is
exploit human perception, human senses are not trained to look for files that have information
inside of them, although this software is available that can do what is called Steganography. The
most common use of steganography is to hide a file inside another file.

Though the fields of steganography and cryptography are associated with one another,
there is a distinction to be made. Cryptography is the art of jumbling a message so that a would-
be eavesdropper cannot interpret the message. Steganography, on the other hand, is the art of
hiding a message so that a would-be eavesdropper is unaware of the message’s presence.

While steganography has been around for centuries, the Digital Revolution has sparked a
renewed interest in the field. For instance, the mass media industry has shown increasing
interest in steganography to fight piracy. It is even rumored that the terrorist organization, Al-
Qaeda, has employed steganography to transmit orders to its operatives over the internet.

All digital file formats can be used to hide secret messages. This paper, however, focuses
specifically on the techniques employed in hiding information in digital image files.

3.1.1 Generic Steganographic System

As with any other science, steganography has its own set of terminology. The term cover
is used to describe the original message in which we will hide our secret message.

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Once we embed our secret message into the cover, the new message is known as the stego data.
The stego data is analogous the cipher text of cryptography.

A generic steganographic system, or stego system, works thusly. A secret message is

embedded into the cover data using some sort of embedding algorithm. The cover data may be a
single file, but that is not necessarily the case. The embedding algorithm then outputs the stego
data. There is, however, a minor detail that needs to be added to the system. Recall
Kerckhoffs’s principle, which states that the security of a system should not be based on the
obscurity of the algorithm, but on the strength of its key. Therefore the embedding algorithm
should require a key as an input. Additionally it is advisable to encrypt the secret message prior
to embedding it.

Key

Embedding

Cover Data Algorithm

Secret
Stego Data
Message

Figure 3.1.1 Overview of a generic steganographic

steganographic system.

Though embedding algorithms may take many forms, there are some requirements that
all embedding algorithms should meet. Firstly, the distortion of the cover data as a result of the
embedding algorithm should be as imperceptible as possible. Secondly, no part of the secret
message should be contained in the header of the stego data file.

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 The message must become part of the cover data and should be immune to manipulation
attacks such as re-sampling or filtering. Ideally, it would also be a good idea to include error
correcting codes into the message so that if the stego data is damaged, the message can still be
recovered.

Finally, it is imperative that the original cover data never fall into the hands of an
eavesdropper or be used twice. Since the embedding process is additive, the secret message can
be recovered if an eavesdropper has different stego files which utilize the same cover data.

We will now explore some of the more popular techniques for embedding messages into
cover.

3.1.2 LSB Modification

LSB modification is perhaps the most popular method to embed a message into cover
data. As its name suggests, this method works by modifying the least significant bit of one of the
RGB values of the pixel data. The secret message data is then scattered pseudo-randomly across
the image. This technique is analogous to the spread spectrum communication technique of
frequency hopping.

This method is quite effective against human detection because it is difficult for the
human eye to discern an LSB modified pixel. Also, any modifications that are made could easily
be attributed to “noise” that may already be contained in the image. However, computer
generated images, such as those generated by vector drawing applications like Adobe Illustrator
or Macromedia Flash, do not contain much noise and would therefore make a poor choice as
cover

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 Blue 220 Blue 221

Figure 3.1.2 Comparison of an LSB altered colour tone.

While 24-bit true-color RGB data formats are best suited for LSB modification, it is
possible to use this method with 8-bit color-index data formats. This can be tricky, however,
because the palette is much smaller and pixel luminescence variation may be much greater and
more easily detected. Therefore, it is wise to attempt LSB modification with a grayscale or
monochromatic cover image.

There are, however, problems with LSB modification. For one, this method will only
work with raw image data. Lossy image compression formats, such as JPEG, do not store
images in an RGB format and are therefore not as forgiving to simple bit manipulation. Another
problem with LSB manipulation is that if the stego data is compressed with a lossy compression
algorithm, the secret message may be destroyed.

3.1.3 JPEG Algorithms

While JPEG files are not as tolerant to bit manipulation as uncompressed image files, it is
still possible to use them as cover data. The key is to know where to hide the information.

The JPEG algorithm works by dividing an image into several 8 x 8 pixel matrices.
Discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficients are then calculated for each matrix. The
coefficients are then multiplied by a quantization matrix. The results are then rounded off to the
nearest integer. The rounded numbers are then further compressed and the results are saved.

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 It is in these DCT values where we can hide our data. A typical approach involves
slightly altering a set of the largest DCT coefficients. These larger values contain the most
“energy” and would therefore produce the least amount of distortion in the image. Another
approach is to choose DCT coefficients that fall into a particular range so as to avoid perception.

The popular JPEG steganography algorithms, F5 and JSteg, both use DCT modification
to embed data. And while both algorithms generally escape human detection, they are both
detectable through statistical analysis.

3.1.4 Patchwork

Patchwork, an early steganographic algorithm, works by hiding a single bit in pairs of

pixels that are in different parts of the image. Here is a sketch of the Patchwork algorithm:

 Create a pseudo-random bit stream to choose pairs of pixels from the cover data.

 For each pair, let d be the difference between the two pixels.

 Encode a bit of information into the pair. Let d< 0 represent 0 and d> 0 represent
1. If the pixels are in the wrong order, switch them.

 If d happens to be greater than a predefined threshold or if is equal to 0, disregard

the pair and move on to a new pair.

Because the algorithm involves swapping pixels, a fair amount of image distortion may
occur. Therefore, this algorithm is only suited for embedding a small amount of data. A benefit
of this algorithm can resilient against lossy compression algorithms if the message is redundantly
embedded.

3.1.5 Steganalysis

While steganography is the art of hiding data, steganalysis is the art of finding a
steganographic message. Attacks on a steganographic system can be summarized as follows:

 Traffic analysis – If an attacker suspects Alice and Bob are sending messages to each
other, a simple attack would be to monitor the information that they send to each other.

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  Detection – Stego data can be detected through visual or statistical attacks. Visual
attacks work if the embedding algorithm causes noticeable artifacts in the stego data.
Statistical attacks work by comparing the frequencies of a potential stego file with the
theoretically expected frequencies of the file. While statistical attacks are quite effective
in identifying stego, they cannot necessarily recover the secret message.

 Brute force - An attacker has received some stego data and is attempting to recover the
message. Unless the sender of the stego data used the same cover data twice, the attacker
has a copy of the cover data, the attacker has the key, or a poor key was used, this attack
can be difficult.

Manipulation – By altering the stego data, an attacker may be able to destroy the message.
There are a number ways that this can be done: lossy compression, cropping (as with the Mosaic
attack), rotating, or scaling (as with Anderson’s Stir mark). This type of attack typically beats
digital watermarking.

The fact that communication is occurring and it can be hidden is possible only with
technique of steganography which is the art of hiding facts. This can be be made possible by
hiding one information in another. Various kinds of file formats can be used for this but the
technique of using digital images is quite well known especially because of the high frequency
on the internet.

There are wide assortments of steganography methods that can help to hide information
that are secreted in images. Some of these techniques are more complex than the others. Each of
these has its own weal and strong points. Absolute visibility is required by some of the
applications for hiding the secret information while another requires huge secret in formations.

This thesis gives an overview of steganographic image as well as about its techniques and
uses. This document further attempts to discover the requirements of the best steganographic
algorithms and also reflects on the techniques used that are more perfectly suitable for
applications.

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 The communication system is growing in the modern world and it also requires a special
security system on the network of the computer. The security of the network is therefore
becoming more and more important as per the data members that are being exchanged on the
internet also increased. The data integrity and the confidentiality also need to be protected
against unscrupulous uses and accessing. This further result creates a growth of hiding the secret
information.

Searching the hidden information is one of the basic research areas that are emerging
nowadays and it also encompasses various applications like protection of copyright for the
media, fingerprinting, watermarking and steganography. The information that makes up the
applications differs in various cases. It includes usually the name of the owner, his identification,
digital time stamp etc.

Hidden files or pictures can be hidden in picture files because pictures files are so
complex. Pictures on a computer are represented by tons and tons of pixels. Each pixel consists
of a variation of all three primary colors, red, green and blue. In a standard 24-bit bitmap, 8 bits
will represent each of the three colors. 8 times 3 are 24.

That means there are 256 different variations of each color in every pixel that makes up a
picture. So, to represent the color white, the code would look like 11111111 11111111
11111111. Now, the human eye cannot distinguish the difference between too many colors and
so the color 11111110 11111110 11111110 would look exactly the same as white. Because of
this, the last digit in every bit in every pixel could be changed. This is the basis of the Least
Significant Bit Insertion technique. Now to show how this becomes useful. You only need 8 bits
to represent ASCII text and there are three extra in every pixel of a picture. Therefore, with every
three pixels, you could form one letter of ASCII text. This may not seem like a lot, but when the
standard image size is 640 x 480 pixels, that adds up to a lot in a hurry. In order to make this
practical to the user, a computer program would be needed. After you type in your secret
message and determine a cover message (the picture you want to hide you message in) the
program would go through every pixel and change the last digit to represent each letter of the
message you wrote.

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 You would then send the picture to the correct recipient who would then use his program
to go through every pixel and take off the last digit and use that to form the message. The
problem of using steganography over digital communications has been solved. Also, the great
thing about LSB (Least Significant Bit Insertion) is that the message is not lost if the file is
compressed. Anyone who uses online pictures knows that bitmap files hold a lot of information
and so are generally large in size.

But because the secret message is encoded into the color bits, the message is never lost
when compressed. The one problem with this approach is that it does not work for every picture
type. LSB works mainly with Bitmaps because of the way bitmaps are compressed. JPEG’s, on
the other hand, are compressed using sophisticated algorithms and so a lot of the original
information is lost.

Because information could so easily be lost with certain compression programs, other
techniques were developed. One technique is called the Masking and Filtering technique. This
technique is very similar to watermarking. The image is marked with the secret message or
image and then cannot be seen unless the luminosity level is changed to an exact amount. This
worked better because the text/image was now actually part of the picture and no longer in the
coding part. Another technique developed used the way certain pictures are compressed to its
advantage.

As stated earlier, JPEG’s are compressed using sophisticated algorithms and because of
this, a lot of the original information of the picture is lost. So, basically, what this last technique
does is, it determines how the picture is going to be compressed with all the algorithms. It then
changes the information of the picture accordingly to the secret message. It changes the
information in a way that when decompressed, it will look similar to the LSB approach. This
way, when the picture is viewed, it still looks the same but the secret message could be
determined by taking the last bit of each pixel just like the LSB approach.

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 Today, the Internet is filled with tons of programs that uses steganography to hide secret
messages. A majority of the programs use a variation of the algorithm approach. When looking
closely at a program to determine how it works, you soon discover that it is really complicated,
or at least, seems to be. But in reality, they are just the using the algorithm approach plus a few
minor twists.

Steganography is in such wide use today that it has been reported that even the terrorist
group Al Quidde uses it to deliver messages. Apparently they were using nude pictures on the
Internet to hide their messages. I have not been able to find an example of this though.

Steganography is also being used everyday life for practical needs. Odds are, you
encounter the use at least once a week and do not even know it. One of the biggest uses today are
with copyrighted materials like DVDs. DVDs are actually encoded with certain watermarks that
the DVD player recognizes.

The watermark has numerous functions. First it tells where the DVD came from so if
someone makes copies of their DVDs, the original copy could always be determined. Secondly,
the watermark determines if the DVD could actually be copied or not. Finally, the watermark
tells the DVD player if it could play the DVD or not. Unknown to a lot of people, but DVDs are
made in certain “Regions” and they only work in that region. For example, Asia and North
America are considered different regions and so a DVD from Asia will not play on a DVD
player that has a North America region code.

Seeing how complex steganography is today, it is hard to imagine what the future could
hold. But with the way technology is growing exponentially, the bounds for steganography seem
limitless. One day, hiding a message inside someone’s brain without the person even knowing it,
Johnny Mnemonic style, may become a reality.

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3.2 TYPES OF STEGANOGRAPHY

Steganography can be split into two types, these are Fragile and Robust. The following
section describes the definition of these two different types of steganography.

Steganography

(covered writing, covert channels)

Protection against detection Protection against removal

(data hiding) (document marking)

Watermarking Fingerprinting

object is marked specific)

Figure 3.2.1 Types of steganography

Fragile – Fragile steganography involves embedding information into a file which is destroyed if

the file is modified. This method is unsuitable for recording the copyright holder of the file since

it can be so easily removed, but is useful in situations where it is important to prove that the file

has not been tampered with, such as using a file as evidence in a court of law, since any

tampering would have removed the watermark. Fragile steganography techniques tend to be

easier to implement than robust methods.

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Robust – Robust marking aims to embed information into a file which cannot easily be
destroyed. Although no mark is truly indestructible, a system can be considered robust if the
amount of changes required to remove the mark would render the file useless. There are two
main types of robust marking: Fingerprinting and Water marking.

3.3 Text Techniques

 CIPHER TEXT
 HIDDEN TEXT

Hiding information is to conceal it in what seems to be inconspicuous text. It is more

difficult when it comes to electronic versions of text. Copies are identical and it is impossible to
tell if it is an original or a copied version. To embed information inside a document we can
simply alter some of its characteristics. These can be either the text formatting or characteristics
of the characters. The key to this problem is that we alter the document in a way that it is simply
not visible to the human eye yet it is possible to decode it by computer. Figure shows the general
principle in embedding hidden information inside a document.

Codebook

Encoder

Figure 3.3.1 Text techniques

Again, there is an encoder and to decode it, there will be a decoder. The codebook is a set
of rules that tells the encoder which parts of the document it needs to change. It is also worth
pointing out that the marked documents can be either identical or different. By different, we
mean that the same watermark is marked on the document but different characteristics of each of
the documents are changed. To convert an encrypted message to English text, paste the cipher
text generated by JavaScript into the box below, and then press the Hide button.

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 You can control the approximate length of lines of text by setting the Line length, and
suppress the interspersing of punctuation and paragraph breaks by unchecking Punctuation. The
cipher text may be in any of the encodings supported by JavaScript. If the cipher text lacks the
sentinels normally included by JavaScript (for example, if you're using this page to convert a
Base64 file generated by another program to text), you must specify the encoding by checking
the corresponding button in the

3.3.1 Encoding

To decode a message hidden as text, paste the hidden message into the box below. While
blank lines and punctuation of all kinds are ignored, as is the case of letters, there must be no
extraneous words in the text. Press the Seek button to decode the message into JavaScript-
compatible cipher text in the box above. The cipher text will use the encoding specified by the
Encoding buttons. If Base64 encoding is requested and the Sentinel box is unchecked, the usual
JavaScript cipher text starts and end sentinels will be omitted; this option permits creating
Base64-encoded documents suitable for use with other programs.

3.4 Image Techniques

LSB – Least Significant Bit Hiding (Image Hiding) –This method is probably the easiest
way of hiding information in an image and yet it is surprisingly effective. It works by using
the least significant bits of each pixel in one image to hide the most significant bits of
another.

(i) First load up both the host image and the image you need to hide.

(ii) Next chose the number of bits you wish to hide the secret image in. The more bits used in the
host image, the more it deteriorates. Increasing the number of bits used though obviously has a
beneficial reaction on the secret image increasing its clarity.

(iii) Now you have to create a new image by combining the pixels from both images. If you
decide for example, to use 4 bits to hide the secret image, there will be four bits left for the host
image.

22
Figure 3.4.1 Image techniques

23
Host Pixel: 10110001

Secret Pixel: 00111111

New Image Pixel: 10110011

(iv) To get the original image back you just need to know how many bits were used to store the
secret image. You then scan through the host image, pick out the least significant bits according
the number used and then use them to create a new image with one change - the bits extracted
now become the most significant bits.

Host Pixel: 10110011

Bits used: 4

New Image: 00110000

3.5 Audio Techniques

Spread Spectrum — spread spectrum systems encode data as a binary sequence which
sounds like noise but which can be recognised by a receiver with the correct key.

MIDI — MIDI files are good places to hide information due to the revival this format has
had with the surge of mobile phones, which play MIDI ring tones.

MP3 — The MP3 format is probably the most widespread compression format currently
used for music files. Due to this, it also happens to be very good for hiding information in. The
more inconspicuous the format, the more easily the hidden data may be overlooked.

24
 Figure 3.5.1 Audio techniques

Figure 3.5.2 Audio techniques

MESSAGES IN AUDIO data is hidden in layer III of encoding process of MP3 file. Messages
in audio are always sent along with ambient noise. The data is hidden in the heart of the layer III
encoding process of MP3 file, namely the inner loop during compression. The inner loop limits
the input data and increases the step size until the data can be coded with the available number of
bits. The data is compressed, encrypted and then hidden in MP3 bit stream.

25
Video — For video, a combination of sound and image techniques can be used. This is due to the
fact that video generally has separate inner files for the video (consisting of many images) and
the sound. So techniques can be applied in both areas to hide data. Due to the size of video files,
the scope for adding lots of data is much greater and therefore the chances of hidden data being
detected is quite low.

MESSAGES IN VIDEO embedding information into multimedia data has gained increasing
attention lately. The method of encryption is the same as in audio steganography. Video files are
generally very good carrier files since they have a lot of irrelevant bits.

3.6 Cryptography vs Steganography

Cryptography

(i) Message is not hidden.

(ii) Enemy can intercept the message.

(iii) Enemy can decrypt the message.

Steganography

(i) Message is hidden.

(ii) Enemy must discover the medium.

File encryption is based on encryption algorithms - a process capable of translating data

into a secret code. In Cryptography, encrypted message is sent. If it is intercepted, the interceptor
knows that the text is an encrypted message. In Steganography, the fact that the message is being
sent is unknown. So, the interceptor may not know the object contains a message. Steganography
is not intended to replace Cryptography but supplement it, Cryptography + Steganography =
Secured Steganography.

26
3.7 STEGANOGRAPHY vs DIGITAL WATERMARK

Digital watermark

Digital watermarks are employed in an attempt to provide proof of ownership and

identify illicit copying and distribution of multimedia information. The role of digital
watermarking as a means of aiding in copyright and ownership issues. Alternatives to digital
watermarking techniques are explored as countermeasures to distortion attacks against carrier.
Despite, Steganography may have nothing to do with the cover which is the object of
communication.

27
CHAPTER-IV

28
 CHAPTER-IV

4.1 IMAGE STEGANOGRAPHY

As stated earlier, images are the most popular cover objects used for steganography. In
the domain of digital images many different image file formats exist, most of them for specific
applications. For these different image file formats, different steganographic algorithms exist.

Figure 4.1.1 Image steganography

4.2 IMAGE DEFINITION

To a computer, an image is a collection of numbers that constitute different light

intensities in different areas of the image. This numeric representation forms a grid and the
individual points are referred to as pixels. Most images on the Internet consists of a rectangular
map of the image’s pixels (represented as bits) where each pixel is located and its colour.

29
 These pixels are displayed horizontally row by row. The number of bits in a colour
scheme, called the bit depth, refers to the number of bits used for each pixel. The smallest bit
depth in current colour schemes is 8, meaning that there are 8 bits used to describe the colour of
each pixel. Monochrome and greyscale images use 8 bits for each pixel and are able to display
256 different colours or shades of grey. Digital colour images are typically stored in 24-bit files
and use the RGB colour model, also known as true colour.

All colour variations for the pixels of a 24-bit image are derived from three primary
colours: red, green and blue, and each primary colour are represented by 8 bits. Thus in one
given pixel, there can be 256 different quantities of red, green and blue, adding up to more than
16-million combinations, resulting in more than 16-million colours. Not surprisingly the larger
amount of colours that can be displayed, the larger the file size.

4.3 BLOCK DAIGRAM OF IMAGE STEGANOGRAPHY

Figure 4.3.1 BLOCK DAIGRAM OF IMAGE STEGANOGRAPHY

30
4.4 IMAGE COMPRESSION

When working with larger images of greater bit depth, the images tend to become too
large to transmit over a standard Internet connection. In order to display an image in a
reasonable amount of time, techniques must be incorporated to reduce the image’s file size.

These techniques make use of mathematical formulas to analyse and condense image
data, resulting in smaller file sizes. This process is called compression.

In images there are two types of compression: lossy and lossless. Both methods save
storage space, but the procedures that they implement differ. Lossy compression creates smaller
files by discarding excess image data from the original image. It removes details that are too
small for the human eye to differentiate, resulting in close approximations of the original image,
although not an exact duplicate. An example of an image format that uses this compression
technique is JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group).

Lossless compression, on the other hand, never removes any information from the
original image, but instead represents data in mathematical formulas. The original image’s
integrity is maintained and the decompressed image output is bit-by-bit identical to the original
image input. The most popular image formats that use lossless compression is GIF (Graphical
Interchange Format) and 8-bit BMP (a Microsoft Windows bitmap file).

Compression plays a very important role in choosing which steganographic algorithm to

use. Lossy compression techniques result in smaller image file sizes, but it increases the
possibility that the embedded message may be partly lost due to the fact that excess image data
will be removed. Lossless compression though, keeps the original digital image intact without
the chance of lost, although it does not compress the image to such a small file size. Different
steganographic algorithms have been developed for both of these compression types and will be
explained in the following sections.

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4.5 IMAGE AND TRANSFORM DOMAIN

Image steganography techniques can be divided into two groups: those in the Image
Domain and those in the Transform Domain. Image – also known as spatial – domain
techniques embed messages in the intensity of the pixels directly, while for transform – also
known as frequency – domain, images are first transformed and then the message is embedded in
the image.

Image domain techniques encompass bit-wise methods that apply bit insertion and noise
manipulation and are sometimes characterized as “simple systems”. The image formats that are
most suitable for image domain steganography are lossless and the techniques are typically
dependent on the image format.

Steganography in the transform domain involves the manipulation of algorithms and

image transforms. These methods hide messages in more significant areas of the cover image,
making it more robust. Many transform domain methods are independent of the image format
and the embedded message may survive conversion between lossy and lossless compression.

In the next sections steganographic algorithms will be explained in categories according

to image file formats and the domain in which they are performed.

Figure 4.5 : Categories of image steganography

32
4.5.1 IMAGE DOMAIN

LEAST SIGNIFICANT BIT

Least significant bit (LSB) insertion is a common, simple approach to embedding

information in a cover image. The least significant bit (in other words, the 8th bit) of some or all
of the bytes inside an image is changed to a bit of the secret message. When using a 24-bit
image, a bit of each of the red, green and blue colour

Components can be used, since they are each represented by a byte. In other words, one
can store 3 bits in each pixel. An 800 × 600 pixel image, can thus store a total amount of
1,440,000 bits or 180,000 bytes of embedded data. For example a grid for 3 pixels of a 24-bit
image can be as follows:

(00101101 00011100 11011100)

(10100110 11000100 00001100)

(11010010 10101101 01100011)

When the number 200, which binary representation is 11001000, is embedded into the
least significant bits of this part of the image, the resulting grid is as follows:

(00101101 00011101 11011100)

(10100110 11000101 00001100)

(11010010 10101100 01100011)

Although the number was embedded into the first 8 bytes of the grid, only the 3
underlined bits needed to be changed according to the embedded message. On average, only half
of the bits in an image will need to be modified to hide a secret message using the maximum
cover size.

Since there are 256 possible intensities of each primary colour, changing the LSB of a
pixel results in small changes in the intensity of the colours. These changes cannot be perceived
by the human eye - thus the message successfully is hidden.

33
 With a well-chosen image, one can even hide the message in the least as well as second
to least significant bit and still not see the difference.

In the above example, consecutive bytes of the image data – from the first byte to the end
of the message – are used to embed the information. This approach is very easy to detect. A
slightly more secure system is for the sender and receiver to share a secret key that specifies only
certain pixels to be changed. Should an adversary suspect that LSB steganography has been
used, he has no way of knowing which pixels to target without the secret key.

In its simplest form, LSB makes use of BMP images, since they use lossless
compression. Unfortunately to be able to hide a secret message inside a BMP file, one would
require a very large cover image. Nowadays, BMP images of 800 × 600 pixels are not often
used on the Internet and might arouse suspicion. For this reason, LSB steganography has also
been developed for use with other image file formats.

4.5.2 LSB AND PALETTE BASED IMAGES

Palette based images, for example GIF images, are another popular image file format
commonly used on the Internet. By definition a GIF image cannot have a bit depth greater than
8, thus the maximum number of colours that a GIF can store is 256. GIF images are indexed
images where the colours used in the image are stored in a palette, sometimes referred to as a
colour lookup table.

Each pixel is represented as a single byte and the pixel data is an index to the colour
palette. The colours of the palette are typically ordered from the most used colour to the least
used colours to reduce lookup time.

GIF images can also be used for LSB steganography, although extra care should be taken.
The problem with the palette approach used with GIF images is that should one change the least
significant bit of a pixel, it can result in a completely different colour since the index to the
colour palette is changed. If adjacent palette entries are similar, there might be little or no
noticeable change, but should the adjacent palette entries be very dissimilar, the change would be
evident.

34
 One possible solution is to sort the palette so that the colour differences between
consecutive colours are minimized. Another solution is to add new colours which are visually
similar to the existing colours in the palette. This requires the original image to have less unique
colours than the maximum number of colours (this value depends on the bit depth used). Using
this approach, one should thus carefully choose the right cover image. Unfortunately any
tampering with the palette of an indexed image leaves a very clear signature, making it easier to
detect.

A final solution to the problem is to use greyscale images. In an 8-bit greyscale GIF
image, there are 256 different shades of grey. The changes between the colours are very gradual,
making it harder to detect.

4.5.3 TRANSFORM DOMAIN

To understand the steganography algorithms that can be used when embedding data in
the transform domain, one must first explain the type of file format connected with this domain.
The JPEG file format is the most popular image file format on the Internet, because of the small
size of the images.

4.5.4 JPEG COMPRESSION

To compress an image into JPEG format, the RGB colour representation is first converted
to a YUV representation. In this representation the Y component corresponds to the luminance
(or brightness) and the U and V components stand for chrominance (or colour) . According to
research the human eye is more sensitive to changes in the brightness (luminance) of a pixel than
to changes in its colour. This fact is exploited by the JPEG compression by down sampling the
colour data to reduce the size of the file. The colour components (U and V) are halved in
horizontal and vertical directions, thus decreasing the file size by a factor of 2.

The next step is the actual transformation of the image. For JPEG, the Discrete Cosine
Transform (DCT) is used, but similar transforms are for example the Discrete Fourier Transform
(DFT). These mathematical transforms convert the pixels in such a way as to give the effect of
“spreading” the location of the pixel values over part of the image.

35
 The DCT transforms a signal from an image representation into a frequency
representation; by grouping the pixels into 8 × 8 pixel blocks and transforming the pixel blocks
into 64 DCT coefficients each. A modification of a single DCT coefficient will affect all 64
image pixels in that block.

The next step is the quantization phase of the compression. Here another biological
property of the human eye is exploited: The human eye is fairly good at spotting small
differences in brightness over a relatively large area, but not so good as to distinguish between
different strengths in high frequency brightness.

This means that the strength of higher frequencies can be diminished, without changing
the appearance of the image. JPEG does this by dividing all the values in a block by a
quantization coefficient. The results are rounded to integer values and the coefficients are
encoded using Huffman coding to further reduce the size.

4.5.5 JPEG STEGANOGRAPHY

Originally it was thought that steganography would not be possible to use with JPEG
images, since they use lossy compression which results in parts of the image data being altered.
One of the major characteristics of steganography is the fact that information is hidden in the
redundant bits of an object and since redundant bits are left out when using JPEG it was feared
that the hidden message would be destroyed. Even if one could somehow keep the message
intact it would be difficult to embed the message without the changes being noticeable because
of the harsh compression applied. However, properties of the compression algorithm have been
exploited in order to develop a steganographic algorithm for JPEGs.

One of these properties of JPEG is exploited to make the changes to the image invisible
to the human eye. During the DCT transformation phase of the compression algorithm, rounding
errors occur in the coefficient data that are not noticeable. Although this property is what
classifies the algorithm as being lossy, this property can also be used to hide messages.

It is neither feasible nor possible to embed information in an image that uses lossy
compression, since the compression would destroy all information in the process.

36
 Thus it is important to recognize that the JPEG compression algorithm is actually divided
into lossy and lossless stages.

The DCT and the quantization phase form part of the lossy stage, while the Huffman
encoding used to further compress the data is lossless. Steganography can take place between
these two stages. Using the same principles of LSB insertion the message can be embedded into
the least significant bits of the coefficients before applying the Huffman encoding. By
embedding the information at this stage, in the transform domain, it is extremely difficult to
detect, since it is not in the visual domain.

4.5.6 PATCHWORK

Patchwork is a statistical technique that uses redundant pattern encoding to embed a

message in an image. The algorithm adds redundancy to the hidden information and then scatters
it throughout the image. A pseudorandom generator is used to select two areas of the image (or
patches), patch A and patch B. All the pixels in patch A is lightened while the pixel in patch B is
darkened.

In other words the intensities of the pixels in the one patch are increased by a constant
value, while the pixels of the other patch are decreased with the same constant value. The
contrast changes in this patch subset encodes one bit and the changes are typically small and
imperceptible, while not changing the average luminosity.

A disadvantage of the patchwork approach is that only one bit is embedded. One can
embed more bits by first dividing the image into sub-images and applying the embedding to each
of them. The advantage of using this technique is that the secret message is distributed over the
entire image, so should one patch be destroyed, the others may still survive.

37
 This however, depends on the message size, since the message can only be repeated
throughout the image if it is small enough. If the message is too big, it can only be embedded
once. The patchwork approach is used independent of the host image and proves to be quite
robust as the hidden message can survive conversion between lossy and lossless compression.

4.6 EVALUATION OF DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES

All the above mentioned algorithms for image steganography have different strong and
weak points and it is important to ensure that one uses the most suitable algorithm for an
application. All steganographic algorithms have to comply with a few basic requirements. The
most important requirement is that a steganographic algorithm has to be imperceptible.

The authors propose a set of criteria to further define the imperceptibility of an algorithm.
These requirements are as follows:

4.6.1 Invisibility

The invisibility of a steganographic algorithm is the first and foremost requirement, since
the strength of steganography lies in its ability to be unnoticed by the human eye. The moment
that one can see that an image has been tampered with, the algorithm is compromised

4.6.2 Payload capacity

Unlike watermarking, which needs to embed only a small amount of copyright

information, steganography aims at hidden communication and therefore requires sufficient
embedding capacity.

Robustness against statistical attacks – Statistical steganalysis is the practice of detecting

hidden information through applying statistical tests on image data. Many steganographic
algorithms leave a ‘signature’ when embedding information that can be easily detected through
statistical analysis. To be able to pass by a warden without being detected, a steganographic
algorithm must not leave such a mark in the image as be statistically significant.

38
4.6.3 Robustness against image manipulation

In the communication of a stego image by trusted systems, the image may undergo
changes by an active warden in an attempt to remove hidden information. Image manipulation,
such as cropping or rotating, can be performed on the image before it reaches its destination.
Depending on the manner in which the message is embedded, these manipulations may destroy
the hidden message. It is preferable for steganographic algorithms to be robust against either
malicious or unintentional changes to the image.

4.6.4 Independent of file format

With many different image file formats used on the Internet, it might seem suspicious
that only one type of file format is continuously communicated between two parties. The most
powerful steganographic algorithms thus possess the ability to embed information in any type of
file. This also solves the problem of not always being able to find a suitable image at the right
moment, in the right format to use as a cover image.

4.6.5 Unsuspicious files

This requirement includes all characteristics of a steganographic algorithm that may

result in images that are not used normally and may cause suspicion.

Abnormal file size, for example, is one property of an image that can result in further
investigation of the image by a warden.

The following table compares least significant bit (LSB) insertion in BMP and in GIF
files, JPEG compression steganography, the patchwork approach and spread spectrum techniques
as discussed in section 3, according to the above requirements:

39
Parameters LSB in BMP Lsb in GIF JPEG patchwork Spread
compression spectrum
Invisibility High * Medium* High High High
Payload High Medium Medium Low Medium
capacity
Robustness Low Low Medium High High
against
statistical
attacks
Robustness Low Low Medium High Medium
against image
manipulation
Independent of Low Low Low High High
file format
Unsuspicious Low Low High High High
files

* - Depends on cover image used

Table 4.6.1: Comparison of image steganography algorithms

The levels at which the algorithms satisfy the requirements are defined as high, medium
and low. A high level means that the algorithm completely satisfies the requirement, while a low
level indicates that the algorithm has a weakness in this requirement. A medium level indicates
that the requirement depends on outside influences, for example the cover image used. LSB in
GIF images has the potential of hiding a large message, but only when the most suitable cover
image has been chosen.

The ideal, in other words a perfect; steganographic algorithm would have a high level in
every requirement. Unfortunately in the algorithms that are evaluated here, there is not one
algorithm that satisfies all of the requirements.

40
 Thus a trade-off will exist in most cases, depending on which requirements are more
important for the specific application.

4.6.6 LSB in BMP images

When embedding a message in a “raw” image that has not been changed with
compression, such as a BMP, there exists a trade-off between the invisibility of the message and
the amount of information that can be embedded.

A BMP is capable of hiding quite a large message, but the fact that more bits are altered
results in a larger possibility that the altered bits can be seen with the human eye. The main
disadvantage regarding LSB in BMP images is surely the suspicion that might arise from a very
large BMP image being transmitted between parties, since BMP is not widely used anymore.
Suggested applications: LSB in BMP is most suitable for applications where the focus is on the
amount of information to be transmitted and not on the secrecy of that information.

4.6.7 LSB in GIF images

The strong and weak points regarding embedding information in GIF images using LSB
are more or less the same as those of using LSB with BMP. The main difference is that since
GIF images only have a bit depth of 8, the amount of information that can be hidden is less than
with BMP. GIF images are especially vulnerable to statistical – or visual attacks – since the
palette processing that has to be done leaves a very definite signature on the image. This
approach is dependent on the file format as well as the image itself, since a wrong choice of
image can result in the message being visible. Suggested applications: LSB in GIF is a very
efficient algorithm to use when embedding a reasonable amount of data in a grey scale image.

4.6.8 JPEG compression

JPEG is the most popular image file format on the Internet and the image sizes are small
because of the compression, thus making it the least suspicious algorithm to use. However, the
process of the compression is a very mathematical process, making it more difficult to
implement. Suggested Steganography is the art of hiding the fact that communication is taking
place, by hiding information in other information.

41
 Many different carrier file formats can be used, but digital images are the most popular
because of their frequency on the internet. For hiding secret information in images, there exists a
large variety of steganography techniques some are more complex than others and all of them
have respective strong and weak points. Different applications may require absolute invisibility
of the secret information, while others require a large secret message to be hidden. This project
report intends to give an overview of image steganography, its uses and techniques. It also
attempts to identify the requirements of a good steganography algorithm and briefly reflects on
which steganographic techniques are more suitable for which applications.

Steganography is the practice of hiding private or sensitive information within something

that appears to be nothing out to the usual. Steganography is often confused with cryptology
because the two are similar in the way that they both are used to protect important information.
The difference between two is that steganography involves hiding information so it appears that
no information is hidden at all. If a person or persons views the object that the information is
hidden inside of he or she will have no idea that there is any hidden information, therefore the
person will not attempt to decrypt the information. What steganography essentially does is
exploit human perception, human senses are not trained to look for files that have information
inside of them, although this software is available that can do what is called Steganography. The
most common use of steganography is to hide a file inside another file.

Though the fields of steganography and cryptography are associated with one another,
there is a distinction to be made. Cryptography is the art of jumbling a message so that a would-
be eavesdropper cannot interpret the message. Steganography, on the other hand, is the art of
hiding a message so that a would-be eavesdropper is unaware of the message’s presence.

While steganography has been around for centuries, the Digital Revolution has sparked a
renewed interest in the field. For instance, the mass media industry has shown increasing
interest in steganography to fight piracy. It is even rumored that the terrorist organization, Al-
Qaeda, has employed steganography to transmit orders to its operatives over the internet.

All digital file formats can be used to hide secret messages. This paper, however, focuses
specifically on the techniques employed in hiding information in digital image files.

42
4.7 APPLICATIONS

The JPEG file format can be used for most applications of steganography, but is
especially suitable for images that have to be communicated over an open systems environment
like the Internet.

4.7.1 Patchwork

The biggest disadvantage of the patchwork approach is the small amount of information
that can be hidden in one image. This property can be changed to accommodate more
information but one may have to sacrifice the secrecy of the information. Patchwork’s main
advantage, however, is its robustness against malicious or unintentional image manipulation.
Should a stego image using patchwork be cropped or rotated, some of the message data may be
lost but since the message is repeatedly embedded in the image, most of the information will
survive. Suggested applications: Patchwork is most suitable for transmitting a small amount of
very sensitive information.

4.7.2 Spread spectrum

A spread spectrum technique satisfies most requirements and is especially robust against
statistical attacks, since the hidden information is scattered throughout the image, while not
changing the statistical properties. Suggested applications: Spread spectrum techniques can be
used for most steganography applications, although its highly mathematical and intricate
approach may prove too much for some.

4.8 Limitations

There are limitations on the use of steganography due to the size of the medium being
used to hide the data. In order for steganography to be useful the message should be hidden
without any major changes to the object it is being embedded in. This leaves limited room to
embed a message without noticeably changing the original object. This is most obvious in
compressed files where many of the obvious candidates for embedding data are lost. Detecting
hidden data remains an active area of research.

43
 Unfortunately, all of the methods mentioned above can also be used to hide illicit,
unauthorized or unwanted activity. What can be done to prevent or detect issues with
steganography? Other uses for steganography range from the trivial to the abhorrent, including
Criminal communications, Fraud, Hacking, Electronic payments, Gambling, pornography,
Harassment, Intellectual property offenses, Viruses, Pedophilia.

44
CHAPTER-V

45
 Chapter V

5.1 GREY SCALE

In photography, computing, and colorimetry, a grayscale or grayscale image is one in

which the value of each pixel is a single sample representing only an amount of light, that is, it
carries only intensity information. Images of this sort, also known as black-and-white or
monochrome, are composed exclusively of shades of gray, varying from black at the weakest
intensity to white at the strongest.

Grayscale images are distinct from one-bit bi-tonal black-and-white images, which in the
context of computer imaging are images with only two colors, black and white (also called
bilevel or binary images). Grayscale images have many shades of gray in between.

Grayscale images can be the result of measuring the intensity of light at each pixel
according to a particular weighted combination of frequencies (or wavelengths), and in such
cases they are monochromatic proper when only a single frequency (in practice, a narrow band
of frequencies) is captured. The frequencies can in principle be from anywhere in the
electromagnetic spectrum (e.g. infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, etc.).

A colorimetric (or more specifically photometric) grayscale image is an image that has a
defined grayscale colorspace, which maps the stored numeric sample values to the achromatic
channel of a standard colorspace, which itself is based on measured properties of human vision.

If the original color image has no defined colorspace, or if the grayscale image is not
intended to have the same human-perceived achromatic intensity as the color image, then there is
no unique mapping from such a color image to a grayscale image.

46
5.1.2 Numerical representations

Figure 5.1.1A sample grayscale image

The intensity of a pixel is expressed within a given range between a minimum and a
maximum, inclusive. This range is represented in an abstract way as a range from 0 (or 0%)
(total absence, black) and 1 (or 100%) (total presence, white), with any fractional values in
between. This notation is used in academic papers, but this does not define what "black" or
"white" is in terms of colorimetry. Sometimes the scale is reversed, as in printing where the
numeric intensity denotes how much ink is employed in halftoning, with 0% representing the
paper white (no ink) and 100% being a solid black (full ink).

In computing, although the grayscale can be computed through rational numbers, image
pixels are usually quantized to store them as unsigned integers, to reduce the required storage
and computation. Some early grayscale monitors can only display up to sixteen different shades,
which would be stored in binary form using 4-bits. But today grayscale images (such as
photographs) intended for visual display (both on screen and printed) are commonly stored with
8 bits per sampled pixel. This pixel depth allows 256 different intensities (i.e., shades of gray) to
be recorded, and also simplifies computation as each pixel sample can be accessed individually
as one full byte.

47
 However, if these intensities were spaced equally in proportion to the amount of physical
light they represent at that pixel (called a linear encoding or scale), the differences between
adjacent dark shades could be quite noticeable as banding artifacts, while many of the lighter
shades would be "wasted" by encoding a lot of perceptually-indistinguishable increments.

Therefore, the shades are instead typically spread out evenly on a gamma-compressed
nonlinear scale, which better approximates uniform perceptual increments for both dark and light
shades, usually making these 256 shades enough (just barely) to avoid noticeable increments.

Technical uses (e.g. in medical imaging or remote sensing applications) often require
more levels, to make full use of the sensor accuracy (typically 10 or 12 bits per sample) and to
reduce rounding errors in computations. Sixteen bits per sample (65,536 levels) is often a
convenient choice for such uses, as computers manage 16-bit words efficiently. The TIFF and
the PNG (among other) image file formats support 16-bit grayscale natively, although browsers
and many imaging programs tend to ignore the low order 8 bits of each pixel. Internally for
computation and working storage, image processing software typically uses integer or floating-
point numbers of size 16 or 32 bits.

5.2 Converting colour to greyscale

Conversion of an arbitrary color image to grayscale is not unique in general; different

weighting of the color channels effectively represent the effect of shooting black-and-white film
with different-colored photographic filters on the cameras.

5.2.1 Colorimetric (perceptual luminance-preserving) conversion to greyscale

A common strategy is to use the principles of photometry or, more broadly, colorimetry
to calculate the grayscale values (in the target grayscale colorspace) so as to have the same
luminance (technically relative luminance) as the original color image (according to its
colorspace).

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 In addition to the same (relative) luminance, this method also ensures that both images
will have the same absolute luminance when displayed, as can be measured by instruments in its
SI units of candelas per square meter, in any given area of the image, given equal whitepoints.
Luminance itself is defined using a standard model of human vision, so preserving the luminance
in the grayscale image also perserves other perceptual lightness measures, such as L* (as in the
1976 CIE Lab color space) which is determined by the linear luminance Y itself (as in the CIE
1931 XYZ color space) which we will refer to here as Ylinear to avoid any ambiguity.

To convert a color from a colorspace based on a typical gamma-compressed (nonlinear)

RGB color model to a grayscale representation of its luminance, the gamma compression
function must first be removed via gamma expansion (linearization) to transform the image to a
linear RGB colorspace, so that the appropriate weighted sum can be applied to the linear color

components ( ) to calculate the linear luminance Ylinear, which can then be gamma-
compressed back again if the grayscale result is also to be encoded and stored in a typical
nonlinear colorspace.

For the common sRGB color space, gamma expansion is defined as where Csrgb
represents any of the three gamma-compressed sRGB primaries (Rsrgb, Gsrgb, and Bsrgb, each in
range [0,1]) and Clinear is the corresponding linear-intensity value (Rlinear, Glinear, and Blinear, also in
range [0,1]). Then, linear luminance is calculated as a weighted sum of the three linear-intensity
values. The sRGB color space is defined in terms of the CIE 1931 linear luminance Ylinear, which
is given by

These three particular coefficients represent the intensity (luminance) perception of

typical trichromat humans to light of the precise Rec. 709 additive primary colors
(chromaticities) that are used in the definition of sRGB. Human vision is most sensitive to green,
so this has the greatest coefficient value (0.7152), and least sensitive to blue, so this has the
smallest coefficient (0.0722).

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 To encode grayscale intensity in linear RGB, each of the three color components can be
set to grayscale), which then typically needs to be gamma compressed to get back to a
conventional non-linear representation. For sRGB, each of its three primaries is then set to the
same gamma-compressed Ysrgb given by the inverse of the gamma expansion above asBecause
the three sRGB components are then equal, indicating that it is actually a gray image (not color),
it is only necessary to store these values once, and we call this the resulting grayscale image.
This is how it will normally be stored in sRGB-compatible image formats that support a single-
channel grayscale representation, such as JPEG or PNG. Web browsers and other software that
recognizes sRGB images should produce the same rendering for such a grayscale image as it
would for a "color" sRGB image having the same values in all three color channels.

5.2.2 Luma coding in video systems

For images in color spaces such as Y'UV and its relatives, which are used in standard
color TV and video systems such as PAL, SECAM, and NTSC, a nonlinear luma component (Y')
is calculated directly from gamma-compressed primary intensities as a weighted sum, which,
although not a perfect representation of the colorimetric luminance, can be calculated more
quickly without the gamma expansion and compression used in photometric/colorimetric
calculations. In the Y'UV and Y'IQ models used by PAL and NTSC, the rec601luma (Y')
component is computed as where we use the prime to distinguish these nonlinear values from the
sRGB nonlinear values (discussed above) which use a somewhat different gamma compression
formula, and from the linear RGB components. The ITU-R BT.709 standard used for HDTV
developed by the ATSC uses different color coefficients, computing the luma component as
Although these are numerically the same coefficients used in sRGB above, the effect is different
because here they are being applied directly to gamma-compressed values rather than to the
linearized values.

Normally these colorspaces are transformed back to nonlinear R'G'B' before rendering for
viewing. To the extent that enough precision remains, they can then be rendered accurately.

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 But if the luma component Y' itself is instead used directly as a grayscale representation
of the color image, luminance is not preserved: two colors can have the same luma Y' but
different CIE linear luminance Y (and thus different nonlinear Ysrgb as defined above) and
therefore appear darker or lighter to a typical human than the original color. Similarly, two colors
having the same luminance Y (and thus the same Ysrgb) will in general have different luma by
either of the Y' luma definitions above.

5.3 Grey scale as single channels of multichannel colour images

Color images are often built of several stacked color channels, each of them representing
value levels of the given channel. For example, RGB images are composed of three independent
channels for red, green and blue primary color components; CMYK images have four channels
for cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink plates, etc.

Here is an example of color channel splitting of a full RGB color image. The column at
left shows the isolated color channels in natural colors, while at right there are their grayscale
equivalences:

Figure 5.4.1 Composition of RGB from 3 Greyscale images

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 The reverse is also possible: to build a full color image from their separate grayscale
channels. By mangling channels, using offsets, rotating and other manipulations, artistic effects
can be

5.4 Plaintext steganography

In this technique the message was hide within a plain text file using different schemes
like use of selected characters, extra white spaces of the cover text etc.

5.4.1 Use of selected characters of cover Text.

Sender was sent a series of integer number (Key) to the recipient with a prior agreement
that the secret message was hidden within the respective position of subsequent words of the
cover text. For example the series was „1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 2, 4,‟ and the cover text was “A team of five
men joined yesterday”. So the hidden message is “Atfvea”. A “0” in the number series was
indicated a blank space in the recovered message . The word in the received cover text was
skipped if the number of characters in that word was less than the respective number in the series
(Key) which was also be skipped during the process of message unhide.

5.4.2 Use of extra white space characters of cover text.

A number of extra blank spaces were inserted between consecutive words of cover text.
This numbers were mapped to a hidden message through an index of a lookup table. For example
extra three spaces between adjacent words were indicated the number “3” which subsequently
indicates a specific text of a look-up table which was available to the both communicating parties
as a prior agreement.

5.5 Still imagery steganography

The most widely used technique today is hiding of secret messages into a digital image.
This steganography technique exploits the weakness of the human visual system (HVS). HVS
could not detect the variation in luminance of color vectors at higher frequency side of the visual
spectrum. A picture can be represented by a collection of color pixels. The individual pixels
could be represented by their optical characteristics like 'brightness', 'chroma' etc.

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Each of these characteristics could digitally expressed in terms of 1s and 0s. For example: a 24-
bit bitmap had 8 bits, representing each of the three color values (red, green, and blue) at each
pixel. If we considered just the blue there were come out 28 different values of blue. The
difference between 11111111 and 11111110 in the value for blue intensity was likely to be
undetectable by the human eye. Hence, if the terminal recipient of the data was nothing but
human visual system (HVS) then the Least Significant Bit (LSB) can be used for something else
other than color information. This technique could be directly applied on digital image in bitmap
format as well as for the compressed image format like JPEG. In JPEG format, each pixel of the
image was digitally coded using discrete cosine transformation (DCT).

The LSB of encoded DCT components could be used as the carriers of the hidden message. The
details of above techniques were explained below:

5.6 Modification of LSB of a cover image in 'bitmap' format.

In this method binary equivalent of the message (to be hidden) is distributed among the
LSBs of each pixel. For example we tried to hide the character „A‟ into an 8-bit color image [4].
We had taken the eight consecutive pixels from top left corner of the image. The equivalent
binary bit pattern of those pixels might be like this: - 00100111 11101001 11001000 00100111
11001000 11101001 11001000 00100111 Then each bit of binary equivalence of letter 'A' i.e.
01100101 were copied serially (from the left hand side) to the LSB's of equivalent binary pattern
of pixels, resulting the bit pattern became like this: - 00100110 11101001 11001001 00100110
11001000 11101001 11001000 00100111 The only problem with this technique was that it was
very vulnerable to attacks such as image compression and formatting.

The following steps were followed in this case: -

(i) The Image was broken into data units each of them consists of 8 x 8 block of pixels.

(ii) Working from top-left to bottom-right of the cover image, DCT was applied to each

Pixel of each data unit.

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(iii) After applying DCT, one DCT Coefficient was generated for each pixel in data unit.

(iv) Each DCT coefficient was then quantized against a reference quantization table.

(v) The LSB of binary equivalent the quantized DCT coefficient replaced by a bit from secret
message.

(vi) Encoding was then applied to each modified quantized DCT coefficient to produce
compressed Stego Image.

Figure 5.6.1 Modification of lsb in bmp format

5.7 Audio and Video Steganography

In audio steganography, secret message was embedded into digitized audio signal which
result slight altering of binary sequence of the corresponding audio file. There were several
methods available for audio steganography.

As we know that steganography is a message hiding technique so that a user can send or
communicate to the other user about their secret message securely.

LSB is one of the most popular technique which is used for hiding the secret message.
LSB hiding technique works as it hides the secret message directly in the least two significant
bits in the image pixels, which affects the image resolution, due to this it reduces the image
quality and make the image easy to attack.

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 Therefore there may be one possibility to remove this problem and make the secret
message more secure and enhance the quality of the image is proposed. The proposed method
hides the secret message based on searching about the identical values between the secret
messages and image pixels. By using this proposed method the image will remain same after
encoding or hiding the secret message in the image. It will not affect the image resolution. A.
Problem formulation

In the previous chapter we have discussed several steganography techniques, but in this
thesis I will give concentration on LSB technique.

5.8 Least Significant Bit hiding technique

LSB is the most popular Steganography technique. Many carrier messages can be used
in the recent technologies, such as Image, text video and many others. LSB uses the image as
carrier message because the image file is the most popular for this purpose because it easy to
send during the communication between the sender and receiver. It uses the RGB color image as
carrier message. The RGB image has 24 bits values per pixel represent by (00000000, 00000000
and 00000000) for black and (11111111, 1111111 and 11111111) for white pixels. It hides the
secret message in the RGB image based on it its binary coding. Figure 3.1 presents an example
about pixel values and shows the secret message. LSB algorithm is used to hide the secret
messages by using algorithm. LSB makes the changes in the image resolution quite clear as well
as it is easy to attack.

From the above figure it is clear we are hiding two least significant bits directly. But they
occurs a problem when we hide these two least significant bits in the image, the resolution of the
image becomes blur. So that there become a difference between original image and encoded
image. The quality of the image does not remain same after hiding these bits. This is the main
problem of LSB technique. I want to overcome the LSB technique from this problem so I am
going to propose a modification in LSB by which this problem will remove from this technique.
The basic idea of my propose method is that choose one pixel of the image randomly, select this
pixel as the centre of the image and divide the image into three parts Red, Green and Blue parts
separately according this centre pixel.

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 Now hide two by two bits of the secret message in each part of the pixel by searching
about the identical, if the identical found or satisfied then set the image with new values if the
identical does not find, hide in the two least significant bits and set the image with new values.
Now save the location of the hiding bits in binary table. This modification will give the same
image quality as original image after the encoding.

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CHAPTER-VI
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6.2 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE

6.2.1 Conclusion

A new Steganography technique was presented, implemented and analyzed. The

proposed method hides the secret message based on searching about the identical bits between
the secret messages and image pixels values. The proposed method was compared with the LSB
benchmarking method for hiding the secret message which hide the secret message directly in
the least two significant bits of the image pixels. The proposed method is more efficient, simple,
appropriate and accurate than LSB method, it search about the identical then start hiding, hence
the change in the image resolution is quite low, as well as it makes the secret message more
secure. This thesis work concluded that the LSB hiding method is the worst case of the proposed
method.

6.2.2 Future Scope

In our thesis work we propose a new approach which give good quality of the image after
encoding the original image by using the LSB technique because LSB technique has a drawback
it affects the resolution the original image after encoding, so that image quality go burst. The
future work on this project is to improve the compression ratio of the image to the text. The main
intention of the project is to develop a steganographic application that provides good security.
The proposed approach provides higher security and can protect the message from stego attacks.
The image resolution doesn‟t change much and is negligible.

6.2.3 Advantages

Attempting to detect the use of steganography is called Steganalysis (the task of detecting
and possibly disabling steganographic information) and can be either passive, where the presence
of the hidden data is detected, or active, where an attempt is made to retrieve the hidden data it is
not infallible. But it considerably increases the work of any experienced code-breaker, who must
identify first the right carrier, extract the sensitive data from it, and only after that (if he gets this
far) – the hard work of breaking the code. Today, less painful but more cryptic methods could be
used to hide information in publicly available web site images. The image is visibly indiscernible
even to a trained eye. The only hope is to enlist science to see past the pixels, but is this possible.