Open Access

ARTICLE

A Linked List Encryption Scheme for Image Steganography without Embedding

Pengbiao Zhao¹, Qi Zhong², Jingxue Chen¹, Xiaopei Wang³, Zhen Qin¹, Erqiang Zhou^1,*

1 Network and Data Security Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, China
2 Faculty of Data Science, City University of Macau, Macau, 999078, China
3 Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA

* Corresponding Author: Erqiang Zhou. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Information Security and Trust Issues in the Digital World)

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2024, 141(1), 331-352. https://doi.org/10.32604/cmes.2024.050148

Received 29 January 2024; Accepted 11 June 2024; Issue published 20 August 2024

Abstract

Information steganography has received more and more attention from scholars nowadays, especially in the area of image steganography, which uses image content to transmit information and makes the existence of secret information undetectable. To enhance concealment and security, the Steganography without Embedding (SWE) method has proven effective in avoiding image distortion resulting from cover modification. In this paper, a novel encrypted communication scheme for image SWE is proposed. It reconstructs the image into a multi-linked list structure consisting of numerous nodes, where each pixel is transformed into a single node with data and pointer domains. By employing a special addressing algorithm, the optimal linked list corresponding to the secret information can be identified. The receiver can restore the secret message from the received image using only the list header position information. The scheme is based on the concept of coverless steganography, eliminating the need for any modifications to the cover image. It boasts high concealment and security, along with a complete message restoration rate, making it resistant to steganalysis. Furthermore, this paper proposes linked-list construction schemes within the proposed framework, which can effectively resist a variety of attacks, including noise attacks and image compression, demonstrating a certain degree of robustness. To validate the proposed framework, practical tests and comparisons are conducted using multiple datasets. The results affirm the framework’s commendable performance in terms of message reduction rate, hidden writing capacity, and robustness against diverse attacks.

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Keywords

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