A Novel Steganography Method Based on Matrix Pattern and LSB Algorithms in RGB Images

In this paper, a new steganography algorithm that combines two different steganography methods, namely Matrix Pattern (MP) and Least Significant Bit (LSB), is presented for RGB images. These two methods use the spatial domain of images for hiding secret messages; however, they differ from each other, fundamentally. The MP method is an algorithm which, firstly, divides the "Cover-Image" into non-overlapping BxB blocks. Then, it hides the data in the 4th through 7th bit layers of the blue layer of the "Cover-Image", by generating unique t(1)xt(2) matrix patterns for each character in each block. The LSB method is an algorithm that hides data in the least significant bit of the "Cover-Image" pixels, which has the least visible effect on the transparency of the "Stego-Image". In the proposed algorithm, the first three bit layers, and the 4th to 7th bit layers of the blue layer of the RGB "Cover-Image" is used for hiding the "Message", with LSB and MP methods, respectively. This algorithm has two entrances for the "Message"; one of them can be only text, "Text Message", which is hidden with the MP method. The other one, "Binary Message", can be any digital media, and is hidden with the LSB method. Our simulation and evaluation results show that this new method has a better capacity than the LSB and MP methods, by more than 1.265 and 4.77 times, correspondingly. Our results also indicate that the final "Stego-Image" has a high quality PSNR.