Securing the Data using Steganography Technique in Images

Since ancient times, it has been necessary to conceal secret communications and tranfer information without leaks. In today’s technology, all available digital media, such as photographs, sound files, films, and so on, provide a rich environment for hiding information that the human eye cannot detect and exploiting unused or redundant data bits. This information can be used to convey messages to hidden agents, but it can also be used as a pressure technique to deliver additional messages within a single file, minimizing the amount of data that must be transferred. This paper demonstrates two methods for encoding /storing a message within the RGB pixels of a cover image (canvas image) without causing visual distortion. A message is broken up into several chunks, converted to 8-bit binary values, encrypted with a simple symmetric exclusive OR (XOR) encryption key, and then encoded into a canvas image by changing the least significant bit (LSB) of the pixel value in both directions. The first approach saves the secret message sequentially, beginning with the top-left pixel, and then encodes the secret message from top to bottom and left to right. The second method randomly encodes the cover image's pixels with the hidden image's message bits, making the concealment less sensitive to scrutiny