An Adaptive Fractal Image Steganography Using Mandelbrot and Linear Congruent Generator

Despite the advancements that occurred in the field of technology, information security (i.e., IS) is still deemed important and critical topic. It is still especially deemed so during the transfer process. In this research, a new approach is proposed for hiding information through the use of iterated function systems (i.e., IFS) from Fractals. This approach employs the main feature of fractals that concentrate on the idea that hackers who seek to find the hidden data shall not be able of locating it. Therefore, there is a need to carry out a decoding process in the aim of revering the conversion for securing the transmitted information. In this research, the secure information is hidden inside a fractal Mandelbrot image using the Linear Congruent Generator (i.e., LCG). Regarding the proposed system, it generates the fractal image through the use of the predefined knowledge gained from the hider site that works as a host for different types of secret messages. The knowledge that comes from the key of image dimensions, parameters of Mandelbrot, LCG key, and key agreement of cryptography method, which makes Stego-image analyses of hidden data unacceptable without the correct knowledge. Based on the results that are obtained through carrying out experiments showed the proposed method meets all the requirements for steganography. Such requirements include: the ones related to capacity, visual appearance, undetectability, robustness against extraction (i.e., security), and hit the highest capacities with a visual appearance of high quality.