High-capacity image steganography based on Haar DWT for hiding miscellaneous data

Abstract

Steganography can be defined as the art and science of concealing private data within a carrier that could be a video, an image, an audio or a text that acts as a cover medium. Many steganography techniques exist; each has its own advantages and limitations. Capacity, robustness and the overall level of security are among the main factors to assess the performance of steganography algorithms. Also, the level of the stego-image distortion should be acceptable This paper aims at proposing a high capacity and efficient steganography technique, where binary images, color images, and large text files can be all concealed within a single cover image at the same time using Haar Wavelet transform. A high capacity of about 99% has been achieved using the proposed algorithm, with low mean square error (MSE) and high power signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR). This algorithm is developed with the aid of MATLAB environment. The obtained results from the proposed algorithm have been promising in terms of efficiency, performance, and capacity.