Hybrid Cryptosystem Using RC5 and SHA-3 with LSB Steganography for Image Protection

The rapid development of internet technology has been accompanied by a significant increase in information security threats. Ensuring the security of confidential information transmission is crucial. Cryptography and steganography are among the most efficient techniques for safeguarding data. Both fields focus on information concealment. This paper proposes a hybrid approach to protect confidential multimedia data, specifically image media, by using LSB steganography techniques in combination with the RC5 encryption algorithm and the SHA3 hashing algorithm to provide dual-layer protection for information. In the proposed method, image data is first encrypted using the RC5 encryption algorithm with a specified key. Subsequently, a hashing function using SHA3 is applied for dual protection, ensuring data authenticity and integrity. Finally, steganography is performed using the LSB technique to embed the hashed information into the image media. This study aims to enhance the security of information in digital image media, providing a reliable solution to address security challenges. The results indicate that data confidentiality was successfully achieved, with an average PSNR of 52.509 dB and an MSE of 0.3829. Tests were conducted using a dataset of images with various dimensions.