A pixel permutation based image encryption technique using chaotic map

In the last decade, with a rapid increase in multimedia productions, image encryption has become a significant part of information security. The inherent image features make image encryption different from text encryption and also makes it difficult to encrypt images using the traditional encryption techniques. This paper presents an overview of the different encryption algorithms in details, analyzing its effect in the field of image cryptography. The paper further discusses the role of chaos theory in the field of image encryption and makes use of the chaos theory to propose an image encryption technique that is based on pixel permutation. Existing image encryption techniques produce encrypted images that resemble a texture or noise like image increasing the chance of attack as it becomes perceivable as an encrypted image. The proposed image encryption technique produces an encrypted image and masquerades it with any general image, hence eluding the attacker. The proposed algorithm is also compared with the Arnold’s cat map algorithm visually as well as statistically using the evaluation metrics Structural Similarity Index (SSIM), Correlation coefficient (CC) and Number of changing Pixel Rate (NPCR).