A robust chaotic algorithm for digital image steganography

This paper proposes a new robust chaotic algorithm for digital image steganography based on a 3-dimensional chaotic cat map and lifted discrete wavelet transforms. The irregular outputs of the cat map are used to embed a secret message in a digital cover image. Discrete wavelet transforms are used to provide robustness. Sweldens’ lifting scheme is applied to ensure integer-to-integer transforms, thus improving the robustness of the algorithm. The suggested scheme is fast, efficient and flexible. Empirical results are presented to showcase the satisfactory performance of our proposed steganographic scheme in terms of its effectiveness (imperceptibility and security) and feasibility. Comparison with some existing transform domain steganographic schemes is also presented.     

Design and statistical analysis of a new chaotic block cipher for Wireless Sensor Networks

Security issue is a vital and active topic in the research of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). After surveying the existing encryption algorithms for WSN briefly, we propose a new chaotic block cipher for WSN and then compare the performance of this cipher with those of RC5 and RC6 block ciphers. Simulation result demonstrates that better performance in WSN encryption algorithms can be achieved using the new cipher.     

An efficient self-adaptive model for chaotic image encryption algorithm

In this paper, an efficient self-adaptive model for chaotic image encryption algorithm is proposed. With the help of the classical structure of permutation-diffusion and double simple two-dimensional chaotic systems, an efficient and fast encryption algorithm is designed. However, different from most of the existing methods which are found insecure upon chosen-plaintext or known-plaintext attack in the process of permutation or diffusion, the keystream generated in both operations of our method is dependent on the plain-image. Therefore, different plain-images will have different keystreams in both processes even just only a bit is changed in the plain-image. This design can solve the problem of fixed chaotic sequence produced by the same initial conditions but for different images. Moreover, the operation speed is high because complex mathematical methods, such as Runge–Kutta method, of solving the high-dimensional partial differential equations are avoided. Numerical experiments show that the proposed self-adaptive method can well resist against chosen-plaintext and known-plaintext attacks, and has high security and efficiency.     

A stream cipher based on a spatiotemporal chaotic system

A stream cipher based on a spatiotemporal chaotic system is proposed. A one-way coupled map lattice consisting of logistic maps is served as the spatiotemporal chaotic system. Multiple keystreams are generated from the coupled map lattice by using simple algebraic computations, and then are used to encrypt plaintext via bitwise XOR. These make the cipher rather simple and efficient. Numerical investigation shows that the cryptographic properties of the generated keystream are satisfactory. The cipher seems to have higher security, higher efficiency and lower computation expense than the stream cipher based on a spatiotemporal chaotic system proposed recently.     

A one-way coupled chaotic map lattice based self-synchronizing stream cipher

Self-synchronizing stream cipher (SSSC) has the advantage that the receiver can automatically synchronize with the sender after receiving previously transmitted ciphertext. However, it has also serious difficulty to keep security due to its self-synchronizing structure. In this paper, a new SSSC based on one-way coupled chaotic map lattice is proposed. By combining floating-point chaotic computations with algebraic operations, the cipher has high bit confusion and diffusion rates. It has both advantages of robustness of synchronization and strong security. The cipher can serve as a new type of SSSC candidate in software implementation.     

A block encryption algorithm based on dynamic sequences of multiple chaotic systems

A block encryption algorithm using dynamic sequences generated by multiple chaotic systems is proposed in this paper. In this algorithm, several one-dimension chaotic maps generate pseudo-random sequences, which are independent and approximately uniform. After a series of transformations, the sequences constitute a new pseudo-random sequence uniformly distributing in the value space, which covers the plaintext by executing Exclusive-OR and shifting operations some rounds to form the cipher. This algorithm makes the pseudo-random sequence possess more concealment and noise like characteristic, and overcomes the periodic malpractice caused by the computer precision and single chaotic system. Simulation results show that the algorithm is efficient and useable for the security of communication system.     

Cryptanalyzing a nonlinear chaotic algorithm (NCA) for image encryption

This paper describes the security weakness of a recently proposed image encryption algorithm based on a logistic-like new chaotic map. We show that the chaotic map’s distribution is far from ideal, thus making it a bad candidate as a pseudo-random stream generator. As a consequence, the images encrypted with this algorithm are shown to be breakable through different attacks of variable complexity.     

A novel image encryption algorithm based on a 3D chaotic map

Recently [Solak E, Çokal C, Yildiz OT Biyikogˇlu T. Cryptanalysis of Fridrich’s chaotic image encryption. Int J Bifur Chaos 2010;20:1405-1413] cryptanalyzed the chaotic image encryption algorithm of [Fridrich J. Symmetric ciphers based on two-dimensional chaotic maps. Int J Bifur Chaos 1998;8(6):1259-1284], which was considered a benchmark for measuring security of many image encryption algorithms. This attack can also be applied to other encryption algorithms that have a structure similar to Fridrich’s algorithm, such as that of [Chen G, Mao Y, Chui, C. A symmetric image encryption scheme based on 3D chaotic cat maps. Chaos Soliton Fract 2004;21:749-761]. In this paper, we suggest a novel image encryption algorithm based on a three dimensional (3D) chaotic map that can defeat the aforementioned attack among other existing attacks. The design of the proposed algorithm is simple and efficient, and based on three phases which provide the necessary properties for a secure image encryption algorithm including the confusion and diffusion properties. In phase I, the image pixels are shuffled according to a search rule based on the 3D chaotic map. In phases II and III, 3D chaotic maps are used to scramble shuffled pixels through mixing and masking rules, respectively. Simulation results show that the suggested algorithm satisfies the required performance tests such as high level security, large key space and acceptable encryption speed. These characteristics make it a suitable candidate for use in cryptographic applications.     

An application of Chen system for secure chaotic communication based on extended Kalman filter and multi-shift cipher algorithm

In recent years chaotic secure communication and chaos synchronization have received ever increasing attention. In this paper a chaotic communication method using extended Kalman filter is presented. The chaotic synchronization is implemented by EKF design in the presence of channel additive noise and processing noise. Encoding chaotic communication is used to achieve a satisfactory, typical secure communication scheme. In the proposed system, a multi-shift cipher algorithm is also used to enhance the security and the key cipher is chosen as one of the chaos states. The key estimate is employed to recover the primary data. To illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme, a numerical example based on Chen dynamical system is presented and the results are compared to two other chaotic systems.     

A block cipher with dynamic S-boxes based on tent map

In this paper, a block encryption scheme based on dynamic substitution boxes (S-boxes) is proposed. Firstly, the difference trait of the tent map is analyzed. Then, a method for generating S-boxes based on iterating the tent map is presented. The plaintexts are divided into blocks and encrypted with different S-boxes. The cipher blocks are obtained by 32 rounds of substitution and left cyclic shift. To improve the security of the cryptosystem, a cipher feedback is used to change the state value of the tent map, which makes the S-boxes relate to the plaintext and enhances the confusion and diffusion properties of the cryptosystem. Since dynamic S-boxes are used in the encryption, the cryptosystem does not suffer from the problem of fixed structure block ciphers. Theoretical and experimental results indicate that the cryptosystem has high security and is suitable for secure communications.     

Cryptanalysis of a chaos block cipher for wireless sensor network

Based on the analysis of a chaos block cipher for wireless sensor network (WSN), it is found that there is a fatal flaw in its security because the number of rounds is too small and the calculation precision of round function is too short. The scheme could be cryptanalyzed by utilizing differential cryptanalysis theory. First, the third round key is recovered by chosen plaintext attack according to the characteristics of the round function. Then, the second round key can be deduced from the relationship of the sub-keys between the second and the third rounds. Based on the above successful attacks, the first round key could also be broken by brute-force attack. Finally, by employing the characteristics of Feistel structure, the fourth round key could also be obtained. Since all round keys have been cryptanalyzed, the plaintext can then be decrypted. The encryption scheme is proven to be insecure consequently.     

A fast algorithm for image registration

An algorithm is presented here to estimate a smooth motion at a high frame rate. It is derived from the non-linear constant brightness assumption. A hierarchical approach reduces the dimension of the space of admissible displacements, hence the number of unknown parameters is small compared to the size of the data. The optimal displacement is estimated by a Gauss–Newton method, and the matrix required at each step is assembled rapidly using a finite-element method. To cite this article: J. Fehrenbach, M. Masmoudi, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 346 (2008).     

A Direct convolution algorithm for image reconstruction

In image reconstruction algorithms, the choices of filter functions and interpolating functions are very important for the computational speed and the quality of the image reconstructed, especially, for fan-beam geometry, the occurrence of the singular integral operator may lead tosome great oscillations compared to the original image. In this paper we will give a direct convolu-tion algorithm which needs not the complex computations occuring in the Fourier transform, then using a circle integral we obtain a stable computational program. Different from all other previouswindow functions used by many pioneer researchers, in our algorithm we choose a window func tion similar to Gabor‘s window function e-x^2/2 , which can be regarded as the approximation to the inverse Fourier transform of a locally integrable frequency function. Also we point out that such reconstruction algorithm procedures can be used to deal with the SPECT projection data with constant attenuation.     

A chaotic image encryption scheme owning temp-value feedback

Many round-based chaotic image encryption algorithms employ the permutation–diffusion structure. This structure has been found insecure when the iteration round is equal to one and the secret permutation of some existing schemes can be recovered even a higher round is adopted. In this paper, we present a single round permutation–diffusion chaotic cipher for gray image, in which some temp-value feedback mechanisms are introduced to resist the known attacks. Specifically, we firstly embed the plaintext feedback technique in the permutation process to develop different permutation sequences for different plain-images and then employ plaintext/ciphertext feedback for diffusion to generate equivalent secret key dynamically. Experimental results show that the new scheme owns large key space and can resist the differential attack. It is also efficient.     

A block algorithm for computing rank-revealing QR factorizations

We present a block algorithm for computing rank-revealing QR factorizations (RRQR factorizations) of rank-deficient matrices. The algorithm is a block generalization of the RRQR-algorithm of Foster and Chan. While the unblocked algorithm reveals the rank by peeling off small singular values one by one, our algorithm identifies groups of small singular values. In our block algorithm, we use incremental condition estimation to compute approximations to the nullvectors of the matrix. By applying another (in essence also rank-revealing) orthogonal factorization to the nullspace matrix thus created, we can then generate triangular blocks with small norm in the lower right part ofR. This scheme is applied in an iterative fashion until the rank has been revealed in the (updated) QR factorization. We show that the algorithm produces the correct solution, under very weak assumptions for the orthogonal factorization used for the nullspace matrix. We then discuss issues concerning an efficient implementation of the algorithm and present some numerical experiments. Our experiments show that the block algorithm is reliable and successfully captures several small singular values, in particular in the initial block steps. Our experiments confirm the reliability of our algorithm and show that the block algorithm greatly reduces the number of triangular solves and increases the computational granularity of the RRQR computation.This work was supported by the Applied Mathematical Sciences subprogram of the Office of Energy Research, US Department of Energy, under Contract W-31-109-Eng-38. The second author was also sponsored by a travel grant from the Knud Højgaards Fond.This work was partially completed while the author was visiting the IBM Scientific Center in Heidelberg, Germany.     

Invertible chaotic fragile watermarking for robust image authentication

Fragile watermarking is a popular method for image authentication. In such schemes, a fragile signal that is sensitive to manipulations is embedded in the image, so that it becomes undetectable after any modification of the original work. Most algorithms focus either on the ability to retrieve the original work after watermark detection (invertibility) or on detecting which image parts have been altered (localization). Furthermore, the majority of fragile watermarking schemes suffer from robustness flaws. We propose a new technique that combines localization and invertibility. Moreover, watermark dependency on the original image and the non-linear watermark embedding procedure guarantees that no malicious attacks will manage to create information leaks.     

A new trust region algorithm for image restoration

The image restoration problems play an important role in remote sensing and astronomical image analysis. One common method for the recovery of a true image from corrupted or blurred image is the least squares error (LSE) method. But the LSE method is unstable in practical applications. A popular way to overcome instability is the Tikhonov regularization. However, difficulties will encounter when adjusting the so-called regularization parameter a. Moreover, how to truncate the iteration at appropriate steps is also challenging. In this paper we use the trust region method to deal with the image restoration problem, meanwhile, the trust region subproblem is solved by the truncated Lanczos method and the preconditioned truncated Lanczos method. We also develop a fast algorithm for evaluating the Kronecker matrix-vector product when the matrix is banded. The trust region method is very stable and robust, and it has the nice property of updating the trust region automatically. This releases us from tedious fi