A more secure steganography method based on pair-wise LSB matching via a quantum gravitational search algorithm

This paper presents a novel steganographic algorithm based on the spatial domain: Least Significant Bits (LSB). This approach improves the LSB matching method proposed by Mielikaien while Mielikaien's method utilizes a binary function to reduce the number of changed pixel values. In proposed method, a two-score system is proposed to assess the performance of different orders for LSB matching. Afterward a quantum gravitational search algorithm is employed to search for an optimal solution among all the permutation orders. By employing the proposed method, the distortion of the stego image could be reduced while the probability of detection is decreased. The experimental results show that the proposed method achieves better performance than Mielikainen's pair-wise LSB matching method in less distortion (means higher visual quality) and more preservation against steganalysis.