@Article{cmc.2026.077025,
AUTHOR = {Islam T. Almalkawi, Samer Khasawneh, Hamza M. Alkhatib, Sabya Shtaiwi, Rami Halloush, Manel Guerrero Zapata},
TITLE = {A Multi-Approach Hybrid Chaos-Based Image Encryption and Steganography Algorithm Using LSB Embedding},
JOURNAL = {Computers, Materials \& Continua},
VOLUME = {},
YEAR = {},
NUMBER = {},
PAGES = {{pages}},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/cmc/online/detail/27786},
ISSN = {1546-2226},
ABSTRACT = {Current image steganography methods often struggle to balance security, payload capacity, and computational efficiency, with many spatial-domain techniques vulnerable to statistical steganalysis and complex methods incurring high overhead. To address persistent challenges in secure data communication, this paper introduces a novel hybrid chaotic-based multi-layered image security and steganography scheme to enhance resistance against detection while offering adaptable performance. The proposed scheme first integrates Fisher-Yates permutation driven by a Logistic Map PRNG, followed by stream cipher encryption using a Hénon Map-generated keystream to secure the secret image. Embedding is then performed via a unique three-pass chaotic LSB approach that utilizes chaotic-pseudo-random block selection and optimizes embedding based on bit-matching scores to enhance imperceptibility. This modular process enables a user-defined balance between computational load and image security/fidelity. Comprehensive analysis validates the scheme’s effectiveness and resistance against steganalysis attacks, and performance results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves high payload capacity and superior imperceptibility, outperforming several contemporary methods. We additionally provide initial undetectability baselines using SRM and a lightweight CNN holdout detector.},
DOI = {10.32604/cmc.2026.077025}
}