Open Access

ARTICLE

Multiple Images Steganography of JPEG Images Based on Optimal Payload Distribution

Yang Pei^1,2, Xiangyang Luo^1,2,*, Yi Zhang², Liyan Zhu²

1 Zhong Yuan Network Security Research Institute, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450000, China
2 State Key Laboratory of Mathematical Engineering and Advanced Computing, Zhengzhou, 450000, China

* Corresponding Author: Xiangyang Luo. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Information Hiding and Multimedia Security)

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2020, 125(1), 417-436. https://doi.org/10.32604/cmes.2020.010636

Received 15 March 2020; Accepted 04 June 2020; Issue published 18 September 2020

Abstract

Multiple images steganography refers to hiding secret messages in multiple natural images to minimize the leakage of secret messages during transmission. Currently, the main multiple images steganography algorithms mainly distribute the payloads as sparsely as possible in multiple cover images to improve the detection error rate of stego images. In order to enable the payloads to be accurately and efficiently distributed in each cover image, this paper proposes a multiple images steganography for JPEG images based on optimal payload redistribution. Firstly, the algorithm uses the principle of dynamic programming to redistribute the payloads of the cover images to reduce the time required in the process of payloads distribution. Then, by reducing the difference between the features of the cover images and the stego images to increase the detection error rate of the stego images. Secondly, this paper uses a data decomposition mechanism based on Vandermonde matrix. Even if part of the data is lost during the transmission of the secret messages, as long as the data loss rate is less than the data redundancy rate, the original secret messages can be recovered. Experimental results show that the method proposed in this paper improves the efficiency of payloads distribution compared with existing multiple images steganography. At the same time, the algorithm can achieve the optimal payload distribution of multiple images steganography to improve the anti-statistical detection performance of stego images.

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Keywords

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