Secure Information Embedding in Images with Hybrid Firefly Algorithm
Sahil Nokhwal Manoj Chandrasekharan Ankit Chaudhary
Various methods have been proposed to secure access to sensitive information
over time, such as the many cryptographic methods in use to facilitate secure
communications on the internet. But other methods like steganography have been
overlooked which may be more suitable in cases where the act of transmission of
sensitive information itself should remain a secret. Multiple techniques that
are commonly discussed for such scenarios suffer from low capacity and high
distortion in the output signal. This research introduces a novel
steganographic approach for concealing a confidential portable document format
(PDF) document within a host image by employing the Hybrid Firefly algorithm
(HFA) proposed to select the pixel arrangement. This algorithm combines two
widely used optimization algorithms to improve their performance. The suggested
methodology utilizes the HFA algorithm to conduct a search for optimal pixel
placements in the spatial domain. The purpose of this search is to accomplish
two main goals: increasing the host image's capacity and reducing distortion.
Moreover, the proposed approach intends to reduce the time required for the
embedding procedure. The findings indicate a decrease in image distortion and
an accelerated rate of convergence in the search process. The resultant
embeddings exhibit robustness against steganalytic assaults, hence rendering
the identification of the embedded data a formidable undertaking.