CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of Study

Image Cryptography is a cryptographic technique used to protect the image. An image was

broken up into shares so that; someone with all the n shares could decrypt the

image, while any n-1 shares revealed no information about the original image. Each share was

printed on separate transparencies and decryption was performed by overlapping the shares.

When all the n shares were overlaid, the original image would appear. Secret Sharing defines

a method by which a secret can be distributed between a group of participants whereby, each

participant is allocated a piece of secret. This piece of secret is known as shares. A secret is

something which is kept from the knowledge of any but the initiated or privileged. The secret

can only be reconstructed when a sufficient number of shares are combined together. While

these shares are separate, no information about the secret can be accessed. That is, the shares

are completely useless while they are separated.

Introduction in an organization, system security protocols are needed to ensure the protection

of data and information in its networks and resources. Thus, data security is important for

safeguarding the corporate asset. If the organizations fail to achieve the same, it could lead to

major loss of information such as dipping of sales, discrepancy in the expected results, lack of

monitory judgments etc. Security of data and information is very important especially when

the data is required to be shared with other users. High level of integrity and confidentiality of

data is supposed to be maintained when the sharing of data is done. The process of keeping

our data safe and secured from other users is known as data security. Data security is

implemented to protect our data from being accessed by unauthorized entities like hackers. A

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very common technique that is used to achieve the same is encryption. Encryption technique

is used to convert the readable form of data into unreadable form by using the right set of

encryption keys and algorithms. The key is used for encoding and decoding the data. The

access to this key is only with the authorized users resulting in high security of data.

Encrypting the data in form of text is comparatively easier than encrypting the images and

videos. Encryption of images and videos require certain characteristics like mass data capacity

and high data redundancy. The process of image encryption includes conversion of an image

into another difficult image that is not easy to be recognized in order to maintain its

confidentiality. In order to view the actual image, decryption of the image needs to be done

using a decryption key. There are various methods that can be used for the purpose of

conversion of the images however a continuous development of more techniques is done so as

to achieve the best method of encryption. Thus, for the implementation of this technique we

tend to use a set of important algorithms that effectively help in achieving a secure and desired

output. RSA and AES are the two algorithms used in this project. Data encryption methods

can be distinguished under two categories i.e. substitution and transposition, based on their

cryptographic algorithms. In substitution method, the data is replaced by some other symbol

according to the algorithm and in transposition method the position of the data is interchanged

or jumbled, following a specific algorithm. Earlier, a new algorithm was introduced.

According to that algorithm, the image was divided into small blocks, approximately of size

8x8. After that the blocks were shuffled and processed resulting in the generation of a random

2D image map. This algorithm makes the decryption more complicated and secure so that the

unauthorized users cannot crack the algorithm easily and the confidentiality remains intact. In

progress to this algorithm, another algorithm was proposed recently in which shuffling of the

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 image pixels was carried out. This was done to generate a cipher image from a plain image

which results into higher security and greater resistance to the attacks.

A lot of researches are carried out to achieve the maximum amount of security when it comes

to the transfer of images in order to avoid the access of unauthorized users and increase the

security.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The subject matter of this research work “Image Encryption using Cryptography Techniques”

has been of high interest and concern to most organizations that are currently using computer

and computer relate devices. Data crime has been a topic of concern and has wrecked

organizations and business establishment in the past and present and if not properly addressed,

it may continue even in future. Hacking into organizations top secret images, files and

introducing virus into them or even selling such information to other organizations; these has

really affected some establishments by counter balancing Electronic efficiency.

1.3 Aims and Objective of the Study

Image Encryption has become necessary at the advent of time-sharing computers, with many

terminals dispersed over a large geographical area. This research work is aimed at developing

a software package that will encrypt images.

The objectives of this research work are:

i. To provide protective measures that would be used to secure Images.

ii. To achieve the design and construction of a user defined package or software that can be

used in converting Image and to a form that can only be understood by those concerned.

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 iii. Provide a corrective measure that could guarantee reliable security of data and information

on hard disk, CD,DVD and other storage devices from unauthorized access or use of data or

information even if it is hacked or stolen by illegal users.

1.4 Motivation/Justification of the Study

The project would also go a long way in fostering good perception of the information age

thereby breaking the ugly bone of continuous use of traditional image. It fosters on the in-

depth, principles, rules and cryptography techniques of encryption.

1.5 Scope of the Study

The research will be limited to encryption and decryption of images and procedure that

virtually discussed many types of computer crime and their associated privacy and security

measures. Though, there are many measures that are technically used to protect images from

or unauthorized disclosure.

1.6 Limitation of Study

The limitation imposed to the development of this research is the restricted access to images

to unknown format, the description of the function and security vulnerabilities are not publicly

available due to the high level of techniques uses. Despite all the limitations posed to continue

with the research, it was considered that the gaps could be filled with improved

communication and engagement of image encryption system.

 Sample Size and Diversity

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  Assessment Methods
Subjective Evaluations: Assessments that rely on subjective measures, such as self-reported

progress or expert reviews, can introduce bias and affect the reliability of the findings.

1.7 Organization of Chapters

This research work will be divided into five chapters. The first chapter is the introduction

which discusses the study’s background, statement of the problem, objectives of the study,

basic assumptions, and operational definition of terms. Also included in this chapter is the

scope of the study and its limitations. The second chapter will be devoted to the literature

review and theoretical framework to provide fundamental and historical background to the

study of Image Encrypting System. This chapter includes the sources and channels through

which image encryption can improve their security. The third chapter will cover research

methodology, taking cognizance of the research design, research population, sample and

sampling technique(s), research instrument(s), validity and reliability of instruments, data

collection technique and finally, the data analysis technique(s) employed in the research. The

fourth chapter will discuss analysis, the assessment of data collected, and research Findings

finally, the fifth chapter contains the summary and conclusion of research work and a

recommendation on how problems raised can be tackled.

1.8 Definition of Terms

 Encryption: The process of encoding message or information in such a way that only

authorized parties can access it and those who are not authorized cannot.

 Decryption: the process of transforming data that has been rendered unreadable through

encryption back to its unencrypted form.

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 Cryptographic: Cryptographic refers to the practice and study of techniques for secure

communication by transforming plaintext (readable data) into ciphertext (unreadable data) to

protect it from unauthorized access. Cryptography involves the use of algorithms and

protocols to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity of data.

 AES: The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is a symmetric block cipher chosen by the

U.S. government to protect classified information.

 Brute-force attack: is a trial-and-error method used to obtain information such as a user

password or personal identification number (PIN).

 Security: The state of being free from danger or threat.

 Enterprises: Refers to a business or company

 DES: The DES uses a 56 bit key (an equivalent of 8 byte) to encrypt the digital image.

 RSA: encryption scheme uses prime numbers and base its security in the difficulty

involved in factorizing the product of two large numbers.