Securing LSB embedding against structural steganalysis

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Powell, Brian A.^{; *}

Affiliations: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author. E-mail: brian.a.powell@jhuapl.edu.

Abstract: This work explores the extent to which LSB embedding can be made secure against structural steganalysis through a modification of cover image statistics prior to message embedding. LSB embedding disturbs the statistics of consecutive k-tuples of pixels, and a kth-order structural attack detects hidden messages with lengths in proportion to the size of the imbalance amongst sets of k-tuples. To protect against kth-order structural attacks, cover modifications involve the redistribution of k-tuples among the different sets so that symmetries of the cover image are broken, then repaired through the act of LSB embedding so that the stego image bears the statistics of the original cover. We find this is only feasible for securing against up to 3rd-order attacks since higher-order protections result in virtually zero embedding capacities. To protect against 3rd-order attacks, we perform a redistribution of triplets that also preserves the statistics of pairs. This is done by embedding into only certain pixels of each sextuplet, constraining the maximum embedding rate to be ⩽2/3 bits per channel. Testing on a variety of image formats, we report best performance for JPEG-compressed images with a mean maximum embedding rate undetectable by 2nd- and 3rd-order attacks of 0.21 bpc.

Keywords: LSB embedding, structural steganalysis

DOI: 10.3233/JCS-200123

Journal: Journal of Computer Security, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 517-539, 2022