In this paper, the problem of secure transmission of sensitive contents over the public network Internet is addressed by proposing a novel data hiding method in encrypted images with dual-level security. The secret information is divided into three blocks using a specific pattern, followed by an encryption mechanism based on the three-level encryption algorithm (TLEA). The input image is scrambled using a secret key, and the encrypted sub-message blocks are then embedded in the scrambled image by cyclic18 least significant bit (LSB) substitution method, utilizing LSBs and intermediate LSB planes. Furthermore, the cover image and its planes are rotated at different angles using a secret key prior to embedding, deceiving the attacker during data extraction. The usage of message blocks division, TLEA, image scrambling, and the cyclic18 LSB method results in an advanced security system, maintaining the visual transparency of resultant images and increasing the security of embedded data. In addition, employing various secret keys for image scrambling, data encryption, and data hiding using the cyclic18 LSB method makes the data recovery comparatively more challenging for attackers. Experimental results not only validate the effectiveness of the proposed framework in terms of visual quality and security compared to other state-of-the-art methods, but also suggest its feasibility for secure transmission of diagnostically important keyframes to healthcare centers and gastroenterologists during wireless capsule endoscopy.
Keywords: Image encryption; Information security; Medical image analysis; Steganography; Video summarization; Wireless capsule endoscopy.