LSB Steganography using Dual Layer for Text Crypto-Stego

¹ College of Technical Engineering, Islamic University, Najaf, Iraq
² Department of Computer Techniques Engineering University of AlKafeel Al-Najaf, Iraq
³ College of Technical Engineering, Islamic University, Najaf, Iraq

^* Corresponding author: ahmed.ali@alkafeel.edu.iq

Abstract

Cryptography and Steganography are two main components of information security. Utilizing encryption and Steganography to establish many layers of protection is a commendable approach. Our main objective of this paper is to build an integrated method of securely transmitting data through a combination of cryptography and Steganography. Cryptography and Steganography are two common methods of secretly transmitting information. RC4 is used in this paper to change information from plaintext to cipher, and then cipher text is integrated into the image by Least Significant Bit (LSB). The results are defined in terms of the processing time, the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), and mean square error (MSE). The experimental results showed the stego image’s acceptable quality and combining the two techniques provides additional security in the original Steganography.