In this Tech., we present a cloud image data protection algorithm with a multilevel encryption scheme and automated-selection mechanism to maintain the privacy of cloud data contents. This algorithm is also useful for the protection of personal or commercial data uploaded to the cloud server for real-time applications, monitoring, and transmission. Fundamental and well-known in cryptography, the confusion–diffusion scheme, as well as an automated-selection mechanism (sliding pixel window), were selected as the main motor of the proposed algorithm to cipher images. First, a sliding pixel window is selected to expedite a two-stepped process, whether in small or big images. The confusion stage was designed to drastically change data from plain image to cipher image. The conversion of pixels from decimal to binary and their vertical and horizontal relocation were performed to help in this stage, not only by randomly moving bits, but also by changing the pixel values when they returned to their corresponding decimal values. Meanwhile, the diffusion stage was designed to destroy all possible existing patterns in the sliding pixel window after the confusion stage. Two hyperchaotic systems, together with a logistic map (multilevel scheme), produce pseudorandom numbers to separately conceal the original data of each subplain image through first- and second-level encryption processes. The two-stepped algorithm was designed to be easily implemented by practitioners. Furthermore, the experimental analysis demonstrates the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed encryption algorithm after being tested using the benchmark “Lena” image, as well as the “Bruce Lee” image, the latter of which is completely different to the first one, statistically speaking.
“Bruce Lee” was the first image, with a size of 849 × 600; this illustration is shown in Figure 7a, and its histogram is shown in Figure 7b. Once the initial conditions were created, the moving window was selected to further shuffle the goal image at the bit level. An image where the relationships between adjacent pixels have been disturbed is shown in Figure 7c, with the corresponding histogram shown in Figure 7d. The multilevel encryption scheme was applied to encrypt the whole image and raise security. Then, the cipher image and its histogram can be obtained; here, Figure 7e,f shows the final result and its histogram, respectively.
Related Research Achievements:
Shih-Yu Li, Yanwen Gai, Kai-Chung Shih, Chin-Sheng Chen*, “An Efficient Image Encryption Algorithm based on Innovative DES Structure and Hyperchaotic Keys”, Accepted by IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers, 2023. (SCI, IF= 5.1, Rank: 101/738=13.68 %, Q1).
Shih-Yu Li, Miguel Angel Benalcázar Hernández, Lap-Mou Tam, Chin-Sheng Chen*, “A Cloud Image Data Protection Algorithm with Multi-Level Encryption Scheme and Automated-Selection Mechanism”, Applied Sciences, vol. 9, no. 23, pp. 5146-5163 (2019) (SCI, IF=2.474, Rank=32/91=35.16%, Q1).
Shih-Yu Li, Miguel Angel Benalcázar Hernández, Shun-Hung Tsai and Chin-Sheng Chen*, “A Novel Chaos-based Image Encryption Mechanism Subject to Authorization System”, 2018 IEEE International Conference on Applied System Innovation (ICASI 2018) (2018)-Best Conference Paper Award
Miguel Angel Benalcázar Hernández, Chin-Sheng Chen, Shun-Hung Tsai and Shih-Yu Li*, “Authorization-Sensitive Image Encryption based on Moving Shuffling in Bit-Level via Using Hyper Chaotic Systems”, The 2017 International Automatic Control Conference (CACS 2017). (2017)