Hiding algorithm based fused images and Caesar cipher with intelligent security enhancement

Abstract

The process of sending confidential data through the communication media and in complete secrecy is now necessary, whether the data is related to patients, a particular military operation, or a specified office. On the other hand, with the development of various ciphering algorithms, and information hiding algorithms, there is a need to obtain ciphered and hidden data securely without the need to exchange secret keys between the two ends of the communication. In this paper, a hiding algorithm based on fused images and Caesar cipher with intelligent methods to strengthen the security of confidential information is proposed. Firstly, fused image scattering is obtained using 1’s complement and circularly shifting the bits of fused pixels by specified positions before the hiding process. Secondly, the keys for the Caesar cipher are derived from the length of secret information according to the mathematical equation. Thirdly, strengthen the security of Caesar’s cipher by taking a 1’s complement of each letter in the cipher data. The results guarantee the security of the presented algorithm.