A novel secure block data-hiding algorithm using cellular automata to enhance the performance of JPEG steganography
The computational complexity of matrix embedding (ME)-based steganography is high due to the use of the Hamming parity check matrix and matrix multiplication. Furthermore, with only one embedding change solution, ME cannot minimize embedding distortions when applied to joint photographic experts group (JPEG) steganography. In this paper, we propose a novel block data-hiding (BDH) algorithm to improve the performance of JPEG steganography. BDH allows a byte of data to be hidden in a binary block by modifying a maximum of two bits of the binary block must be changed. Moreover, BDH can be applied to the new channel selection rule for JPEG steganography with more available embedding solutions and less computational complexity than modified matrix embedding (MME). In addition, to increase the security of hidden data against extraction attacks, the secret message is encrypted by a cipher based on cellular automata (CA). The bitwise XOR operator is employed in the encryption process to maintain speed and security when a non-repeating key stream is used. The experimental results indicate that the proposed approach has a high anti-detection property against ensemble classifiers (universal steganalyzers), high security against recovery attacks, and good perceptual quality.
block data-hiding cellular automata steganography ensemble classifier