Available: https://doi.org/10.54117/ijps.v1i1.

1 Research article

IPS Journal of Physical Sciences

IPS J Phys Sci, 1(1): 1-5 (2022)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54117/ijps.v1i1.1

A Modified Least Significant Bit Replacement:

Steganography Method for Handling Random Noise
Effect
Mohammed Usman1 and Badamasi Yusuf2*
1Department of Computer Science, Modibbo Adama University (MAU), Yola.
2Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Dutse, Jigawa State.

*Corresponding author: [email protected]; Phone: +234(0)8032489331

Abstract Article History

Steganography is one of the security measures employed at file level to cover information in a carrier. The Received: 18 Jan 2022
goal of steganography is to send a confidential message over a network in a way that intruders will not notice Accepted: 21 Feb 2022
it. In steganography, the message is wrapped in an innocent carrier such as image, audio or video file. There Published: 22 Feb 2022
are always bits tempering in the process and this changes the looks and appearance of the carrier. The more
Scan QR code to view
secret message is embedded in any cover file, the more random noise occurs. Secret message bits when
embedded drastically modify the Red Green and Blue (RGB) components’ bits of the carrier, hence, the
statistical properties and physical appearance of the carrier change and this draws the attention of intruders
to suspect that confidential data is hidden there. This research introduced an improved method of least
significant bit replacement to cover secret data using 24 bits bitmap image to handle random noise efficiently
so that the Human Visual System (HVS) of intruders will not notice the secret communication. The research
reviewed some previous related researches that aimed to reduce the effect of random noise and research gap
is identified. The research implemented the new Modified Least Significant Bit Replacement (M-LSBR)
method to fill the identified research gap. Five (5) experiments were conducted with 5 (five) varying
dimension RGB images and the result gathered that the PSNR value, image quality and message capacity of License: CC BY 4.0
the new method is better than those achieved by the previous methods, hence, the research gap is filled.
Finally, conclusion was drawn and recommendation for future research was suggested.
Open Access article.
Keywords: Steganography, Cover, Stego, M-LSBR, PSNR, LSB, MSB

How to cite this paper: Usman, M. and Yusuf, B. (2022). A Modified Least Significant Bit Replacement: Steganography Method for Handling Random Noise
Effect. IPS Journal of Physical Sciences, 1(1), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.54117/ijps.v1i1.1.

1. Introduction 2. Reviewed Literatures

Unauthorized access to data is the common threats in a networked system that Salluri (2020) proposed a method that slightly modified the technique of data
may cause loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the information embedding into Image Encryption using the Symmetric Key for RDH in Cloud
technology assets (Kaur, Inderjeet & Duhan, 2017). Steganography is one of Storage (Fig. 1). The research uses newer modules instead of older ones and
the techniques used to safeguard data/information against unauthorized provides a better Graphical User Interface for easy understanding and user-
access. Steganography is a method of hiding confidential information in a friendly experience.
cover file (Alam, 2016). The cover file may be text file, digital image, audio
file or video file. The message wrapped cover, also known as stego is securely Ansari et al. (2020) presents an algorithm called GSA that works for cover
sent to a destination over the internet with low chance of intruder noticing it. images of multiple formats that is designed to apply uniform security policies
Steganography is a step further to cryptography which only scrambles the across all image formats as shown in figure 2. This method can adaptively
information into incomprehensible form to unauthorized person (Laskar & select the most suitable cover image based on data length, network bandwidth
Hemachandran, 2019). Steganography on the other hand hides the entire and allowable distortions on the abstract concept of image components that
existence of the message and therefore it is considered more secure approach can be adapted for JPEG, Bitmap, TIFF and PNG cover images.
(Mortazavian, Jahangiri & Fatemizadeh, 2016). The problem that raised
concern in image steganography method is the effect of random noise which The Conventional Least Significant Bit (LSB) replacement method of
is added in the cover during the hiding process and this cause the stego image steganography proposed by Champakamala, Padmini and Radhika (2009) is a
to degrade in quality (Juneja & Sandhu, 2013). This research is aimed at common and simple approach to embed information in an image file. The
achieving a detection free technique that efficiently reduces the effect of method used 640 X 525 sized RGB image as cover to replace the Least
random noise in stego image. In order to achieve this aim, the conventional Significant Bits (LSBs) of the cover image (C) with the bits of secret message
Least Significant Bit Replacement method is improved and a 24 bit bitmap (M) aimed at reducing noise in the stego-image. Every pixel in 24-bit bitmap
image format used as cover. The research is intended to fill the research gaps image consists of Red, Green and Blue (RGB) colour components and each
identified in previous relevant literatures. colour component consists of eight (8) bits. This method is easiest to
implement but it is characterized by Low PSNR of 19.9987 dB and low quality

This work is published open access under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits free reuse, remix, redistribution and transformation provided due credit is given.

1
Available: https://doi.org/10.54117/ijps.v1i1.1 Research article

image that draw intruder’s attention to easily sense a secret message is hidden Emam, Ali and Omara (2016) proposed a random pixel replacement method
in the stego image. The method also accommodates only 15 bytes or less of to hide bits of the secret message. This method pays attention to hiding a
message. message only in blue and green components of the cover image pixels,
neglecting red colour component. This method achieved a high PSNR of
40.434 dB however; the appearance of the stego-image after embedding
considerably changes. The method also has a good message hiding capacity as
it can wrap up to 50 bytes of message length.

Ali and Saad (2019) proposed Secret Message Matching (SMM) method if the
embedded bit does not match the LSB of the cover image, then the pixel value
of the corresponding pixel is randomly added by ±1. The original image and
the stego image looks identical to the Human Visual System and this help
reduces suspicion of secret communication. The method achieved 40.1132 dB
PSNR but designed to hide only 20 bytes long message.

Abdul-Sada (2017) method is based on LSB-3. The paper exploits the third
Least Significant Bit instead of first or second Least Significant Bit and it has
achieved great capacity of hiding up to 45 bytes of message and 30.087 dB of
PSNR. The original and stego looks a bit different as noise is slightly
noticeable to the human eye.

Manikandan et al (2021) came up with a combined framework of both

encryption and steganography where only the authorized person can send the
Figure 1: AWS Cloud Steganography Architecture (Salluri, 2020). secret image to the receiver. In the first stage, an image steganography system
is processed using confidential medical X-ray images which are hidden under
the cover images. On the receiver side, the same process of decryption
happens, followed by the two-level verification using email authentication and
OTP generation using Pega. This ensures that only the authorized receiver can
receive and view the secret image sent by the sender. Figure 3 has richly
demonstrated this approach.

Figure 2: Varying Image Format (Ansari et al., 2020).

Korothan, Kishor and Butey (2016) proposed a technique that involves hiding Figure 3: Combined Approach (Manikandan et al., 2021).
secret in an RGB image. In this technique, embedding is done through
replacing the noisy bit of the image with bits of the secret message. From Identified Research Gap
Human Visual System angle, the stego image looks a bit distorted thereby Some of the visited literatures achieved low image quality after hiding
drawing intruder’s attention. The PSNR value achieved by this method is message, low Peak Signal to Noise Ratio value or low message holding
41.131 dB and the method capacity depends on the amount of noisy bits found capacity. This research has come to fill these gaps found in these previous
in the cover to be replaced with message. researches.

2
Available: https://doi.org/10.54117/ijps.v1i1.1 Research article

3. Materials and Methods

Materials
1. Five varying dimension 24 bit bitmap images
2. Matlab software
3. Microsoft Visual studio v.2010
4. ASCII converter
Method
Modified Least Significant Bit Replacement (M-LSBR) method takes the
following stages:
1. Determine the size of the secret message with that of the cover image
such that size of the secret message should be less than the size of cover
image.
2. Convert the pixels of the 24-bits bitmap image (cover) into binary bytes
using bit and divide it into RGB parts. Each byte represents one of the
three components (R,G,B)
3. Encode the secret message into binary using ASCII converter.
4. Embed first two MSBs of the secret message (M) into the last two bits Figure 4: Modifying LSBR (Proposed Method).
of R component of the pixel, followed by second two bits in the G
component then third two bits of the secret message in B component.
5. The operation on M continues from left to right MSBs for the remaining
M’s bits by inserting them in the subsequent pixels in a loop fashion until
all the M’s bits are fully embedded.

Practical of M-LSBR
The method converts the message characters into ASCII binary
representations. Table 1 indicates how a secret message ‘HELLO’ was
encoded and hidden in sixteen (16) pixels of a 24 bit bitmap image.

Table 1: Bits Hiding in Pixels

Figure 5: Conventional LSBR Method.

Experimentations
Experiments were carried out using Matlab software and observation of the
image quality using Human Visual System (HVS) were the tools used in the
experimentations. The factors considered in assessing the effectiveness and
efficiency of the proposed method during the experiments were:
1. Image Quality
2. Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) value and
3. Message Capacity
Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR): is a visual quality estimator for stego
images. It is used to measure the perceptible quality of the modified
Steganography image in decibels (dB). A high value for PSNR indicates
higher quality of an image.

The PSNR is calculated as:

PSNR= 20 log (maxi) – 10 log (MSE)

Mean Square Error (MSE): is an estimate for error between the original cover
image and the output stego (reconstructed) images.

4. Results and Discussion

This research tries to compare the results for of some of the existing works
and that of the proposed method (M-LBSR) in order to understand
whether the proposed method filled the identified gap found in the
previous works or otherwise.
Novelty of the Proposed Method The Conventional Least Significant Bit (LSB) replacement method used
This research is an innovation of modifying the commonly known Least
by Champakamala, Padmini and Radhika (2009) as seen in the literature
Significant Bit Replacement (LSBR) steganography method.
review section is characterized with low PSNR value (9.9987 dB only)
The method replaces the least bits of only one component out of the three and low image quality image as shown in figure 6. The method could
components (Red, Green and Blue) of every pixel in a 24 bits bitmap image accommodate only 15 bytes or less of message.
as shown in figure 4, achieving better image quality instead of following the
conventional style (adopted by most of the previous methods) that replaces the In comparison, the method proposed by this research shows an image
least bits of all the three components in every pixel as shown in figure 5 which hiding a secret message of 52 bytes size in its first experiment with no
result in less image quality. difference in the appearance of the two images (before and after hiding)
as depicted in figure 7 and achieved higher PSNR value (51.8283 dB)
when analysed in a Matlab.

3
Available: https://doi.org/10.54117/ijps.v1i1.1 Research article

the appearance of the stego-image after embedding considerably changes

as shown in figure 10. The method also has good message hiding capacity
as it can wrap up to 50 bytes of message length.

The 3rd experimental result of the proposed method is compared with the
Emam, Ali and Omara (2016) method discussed in the literature review
section. The proposed method shows no difference in appearance of both
original and after hiding image as shown in figure 11. The method is
capable of holding 51 bytes message size and achieved 54.8254 dB PSNR
value, hence it is more effective.
Figure 6: Cover image and stego image (Champakamala, Padmini &
Radhika, 2009).

Figure 10: Cover image and stego image (Emam Ali & Omara, 2016).

(a) Before hiding (b) After Hiding

Figure 7: Experiment 1 (Proposed Method).

The noisy bit replacement technique brought by Korothan, Kishor and

Butey (2016) rendered the stego image distorted thereby drawing
intruder’s attention. The result of this method shows PSNR of 41.131 dB
and message capacity of 43 bytes. Figure 8 displayed how the image is
distorted when secret information is hidden in it.

When the 2nd experiment was done with the proposed method, the image (a) Before hiding (b) After Hiding
hides a message of 53 bytes and there is no difference in the appearance Figure 11: Experiment 3 (Proposed Method).
of both the cover image and the stego image as shown in figure 9 and the
PSNR achieved was 53.0805 dB.
The Secret Message Matching (SMM) method by Ali and Saad (2019)
achieved 40.1132 dB PSNR and is limited to hide only 20 bytes long
message with relatively higher image quality that one may not notice any
difference between the original and stego image as shown in figure 12.
The result of the 4th experiment carried out by the method proposed by
this research is compared with the Ali and Saad (2019) method which
yielded almost the same outcome when it comes to image quality as
shown in figure 13. However, the message capacity of the Modified Least
Bit Replacement method of this research is higher than that of Ali and
Saad (2019) method.

Figure 8: Cover image and stego image (Korothan, Kishor & Butey,
2016)

Figure 12: Cover image and stego image (Ali & Saad, 2019).

(a) Before hiding (b) After Hiding

Figure 9: Experiment 2 (Proposed Method).

The random pixel replacement method by Emam, Ali and Omara (2016)
hides bits of secret message in blue and green components of the cover (a) Before hiding (b) After Hiding
image pixels. The method achieved high PSNR of 40.434 dB however; Figure 13: Experiment 4 (Proposed Method).

4
Available: https://doi.org/10.54117/ijps.v1i1.1 Research article

Third Least Significant Bit Replacement method by Abdul-Sada (2017) 5. Conclusion

achieved great capacity of hiding up to 45 bytes of message and 30.087
dB of PSNR. The original and stego looks a bit different as noise is The proposed method was compared with the LSB benchmarking method
noticeable (Fig. 14). The 5th experiment carried out with the Modified for hiding the secret message which hide the secret message directly in
Least Significant Bit Replacement proposed by this research indicates that the least two significant bits of the image pixels. The proposed and the
image containing the message remain the same in appearance and the LSB hiding methods were implemented to hide varying size secret
PSNR value achieved is 51.8436 dB (Fig. 15). message in five (5) different Bmp images.

The results of the proposed and LSB hiding methods were discussed and
analyzed based on the Peak Signal to noise ratio metric. It is concluded
that the proposed method is more efficient, simple, appropriate and
accurate than the reviewed methods because it embed uniformly, no over
exploitation of one particular component neglecting the other. Thus, each
component gives equal contribution of intensity when hiding data; hence
the change in the image resolution is quite low and this makes the secret
message more secure.

6. Recommendations and Future Work

Figure 14: Original and Stego image (Abdul-Sada, 2017). 1. Steganography should be seen as a complement to cryptography and
not its replacement. Exploring how to use the combined techniques
in future research will be a welcomed idea. Implementation of
Crypto-Stego method using M-LSBR model is expected to
guarantee better and effective information security. Therefore
research should try exploring more than steganography alone.
2. The M-LSBR method can also be implemented in the future research
using other forms of cover file other than image. The use of audio
file, video file or text file as cover media can also be employed.
3. Enhancing the proposed method to make the capacity higher while
keeping the same or higher PSNR value means more quality against
intrusion.

(a) Before hiding (b) After Hiding References

Figure 15: Experiment 5 (Proposed method). Abdul-Sada, A.I. (2017). Information hiding using third Least Significant Bit
(LSB-3). J. Basrah Researches (Sciences), 33(4), 81-88.
The fifth experiment indicates how the cover image Figure 10(a) was used Alam, I.F. (2016). An investigation into encrypted message hiding through
to embed a secret message of 53 bytes size. Figure 10(b) indicates the images using SB. International Journal of EST, 6(33), 34-40.
stego image containing the secret message but no difference in the Ali, A.A., &, Saad, A.S. (2019). New image steganography method by
appearance and statistical property of the both the cover image and the matching secret Message with pixels of cover image (SMM).
stego image. The Human Visual System (HVS) couldn’t distinguish International Journal of Computer Science Engineering and Information
between the stego image and original image. The histograms of both Technology Research, 3(2), 1-10.
original and modified image remain the same. Tables 2 and 3 are Ansari, A.S., Mohammadi, M.S., & Parvez, M.T. (2020). A Multiple-format
steganography algorithm for color images. IEEE Access, 8(3): 83926-
summaries of results from previous studies and proposed methods.
83939.
Champakamala, B.S, Padmini, K., & Radhika, D. K. (2009). Least Significant
Table 2: Summary of Results (Previous Researches) Bit algorithm for image steganography. International Journal of
S/ Literature Technique PSNR Image Messag Advanced Computer Technology, 3(4), 34-38.
N Used (in dB) qualit e Emam, M.M., Ali, A.A., & Omara, F.A. (2016). An Improved Image
y capacity Steganography Method Based on LSB Technique with Random Pixel
(bytes) Selection. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and
1. Champakama Conventional 19.998 Low 15 Applications, 7(3), 361-366.
la et al (2009) LSB 7 Juneja, M., & Sandhu, P.S. (2013). A New Approach for Information security
2. Korothan et Noisy bit 41.131 Low 43 using an Improved Steganography Technique. Journal of Info. Pro.
al (2016) substitution Systems, 9(3), 405-424.
3. Emam et Random 41.48 Low 51 Kaur, J., Inderjeet, A., & Duhan, M. (2017). An analysis of steganographic
al (2016) substitution techniques. International Journal of Information Technology and
4. Ali and Saad Matching 40.113 High 20 Knowledge Mngt., 2 (1),191-194.
(2019) method 2 Korothan, J., Kishor, S. & Butey, P. (2016). De-Noise Steganography by
5. Abdul-Sada LSB -1,2 39.087 Low 45 Enhancing the Cover Image: A Multi-Level Security Approach. The
(2017) replacement International Arab Journal of Information Technology, 13(6), 851-857.
Laskar, S.A., & Hemachandran, K. (2019). Steganography based on random
Table 3: Summary of Results of the Proposed Method (M-LSB) pixel selection for efficient data hiding. International Journal of
Computer Engineering and Technology, 4(2), 31-44.
S/N Cover Capacity(bytes) PSNR (in Image
Manikandan, T., Muruganandham, A., Babuji, R., Nandalal, V. & Iqbal, M.
image dB) quality (2021). Secure E-Health using Images Steganography. Journal of
1. Jellyfish 53 51.8283 High Physics: Conference Series, 21(1), 1-7.
2. Penguins 52 53.0805 High Mortazavian, P., Jahangiri, M., & Fatemizadeh, E. (2016). Low degradation
3. Koala 51 54.8254 High steganography model for data hiding in medical image. International
4. Lighthouse 52 51.8436 High Journal of Computer Science and Information Technology, 4(2), 234-240.
5. Desert 53 51.8283 High Salluri, S.C. (2020). Image steganography and sending private data through
email using cloud computing. International Journal of Progressive
Research in Science and Engineering, 1(8), 92-94.


Thank you for publishing with us.