A Parallel Steganography Algorithm Using a New Secret Key Generation

Computation has mostly used parallelism for high-performance computation, and multicore processors have gained popularity because they offer better processing time. However, one of the most challenging tasks to achieve is securely exchange confidential data over the network between sender and receiver. The research work in this paper explains how secret key steganography, combined with parallel processing, is utilized to conceal secret data within an image. The proposed algorithm describes and focuses on the generation method of a secret key while merging it with the Least Significant Bit (LSB) algorithm to achieve robustness, as well as parallel computing to improve the processing time in both the encoding/decoding phases. The proposed algorithm adds another layer of security by adding a robustness parameter (secret key), convenient for keeping secret, confidential, and crucial data. Parallel processing, combined with the new method to formulate the secret key is the novelty and strongest attribute of the proposed algorithm. When parallel computing is applied, the process speeds up compared with the same algorithm in the sequential version. The results are compared with the LSB algorithm in terms of the peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) and mean square error (MSE) values, aspiring to present that the proposed algorithm adds robustness without affecting image imperceptibility.