Adaptive Steganography Approach in RGB Images Based on Color Channels to Enhance Stego Image Quality

The need to secure sensitive information has rapidly advanced based on the increased vulnerability of the data transmitted over the public network. Aligning with securing the data transmission, numerous steganographic techniques have been proposed, often using digital images, with the primary goal of finding an optimal balance between sensitive information size and the quality of the carrier image. Nonetheless, many existing methods present a drawback of perceptible secret data when concealed in the cover image's pixels, making them less practical for modern data-intensive applications. This article provides a new adaptive method to improve the quality of the data carrier image to seek the integrity of the sensitive data transmitted. The proposed approach utilises a modulus function to the Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) image channels to selectively embed secret bits from the sensitive data. The Blue channel hosts the most data due to its least sensitivity to changes. Experimental results indicate promising results with an average Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) of 57.146 (dB), reflecting a carrier image close to the original cover image. Compared to the existing works, the proposed method outperforms with a superior stego image quality.