Simple and secure image steganography using LSB and triple XOR operation on MSB

Least Significant Bit (LSB) is a very popular method in the spatial domain of steganographic images. This method is widely used and continues to be developed to date, because of its advantages in steganographic image quality. However, the traditional LSB method is very simple and predictable. It needs a way to improve the security of hidden messages in this way. This research proposes a simple and safe way to hide messages in LSB techniques. Three times the XOR operation is done to encrypt the message before it is embedded on the LSB. To facilitate the process of encryption and decryption of messages, three MSB bits are used as keys in XOR operations. The results of this study prove that this method provides security to messages with very simple operation. The imperceptibility quality of the stego image is also excellent with a PSNR value above 50 dB.