A Hybrid Approach for Improving Performance of Image Steganography Using Deep Learning Techniques
摘要
This research presents a novel image steganography method leveraging deep learning for secure and robust data concealment. Traditional steganography often struggles to maintain the quality of the cover image and resist common attacks like compression and resizing. To overcome these limitations, our proposed method employs a deep learning architecture, specifically a combination of U-Net, V-Net, and U-Net ++ models, to create an end-to-end framework for embedding and extracting hidden information within images. The framework consists of a Hiding Network, which embeds a secret image into a cover image, and a Reveal Network, which accurately recovers the concealed data. By utilizing dilated convolutions and hybrid feature extraction, we effectively balance high-level and low-level features, preserving image quality while ensuring the resilience of the hidden information against typical distortions. Experimental results demonstrate that our method achieves superior performance in terms of imperceptibility, attack resistance, and extraction accuracy, making it a powerful tool for secure communication in sensitive situations. We conduct a comprehensive comparative analysis using key performance metrics—Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR), Number of Pixel Change Rate (NPCR), Mean Squared Error (MSE), Visual Information Fidelity (VIF), and Normalized Cross-Correlation (NCC)—to evaluate our new architecture under various attack scenarios, including compression, cropping, and noise. The experimental data confirms that our method surpasses traditional techniques in imperceptibility, resilience to attacks, and extraction precision, establishing it as an effective solution for secure communication and data protection in sensitive contexts.