Randomization Strategies in Image Steganography Techniques: A Review

Abstract

Image steganography is one of the prominent technologies in data hiding standards. Steganographic system performance mostly depends on the embedding strategy. Its goal is to embed strictly confidential information into images without causing perceptible changes in the original image. The randomization strategies in data embedding techniques may utilize random domains, pixels, or region-of-interest for concealing secrets into a cover image, preventing information from being discovered by an attacker. The implementation of an appropriate embedding technique can achieve a fair balance between embedding capability and stego image imperceptibility, but it is challenging. A systematic approach is used with a standard methodology to carry out this study. This review concentrates on the critical examination of several embedding strategies, incorporating experimental results with state-of-the-art methods emphasizing the robustness, security, payload capacity, and visual quality metrics of the stego images. The fundamental ideas of steganography are presented in this work, along with a unique viewpoint that sets it apart from previous works by highlighting research gaps, important problems, and difficulties. Additionally, it offers a discussion of suggested directions for future study to advance and investigate uncharted territory in image steganography.