A Quantum Image Encryption Method Based on DNACNot
Open accessAbstract
The image is one of the most important means to store information, and is widely used in every aspect of life. However, the characteristics of images enable them to be easily stolen, tampered with, and copied. Researchers have proposed many encryption methods, with most applying only to traditional digital images. There are few encryption methods for quantum images, and quantum image-oriented encryption technology has begun to attract researchers' attention. This study proposes a quantum image encryption method based on DNA Controlled-Not (DNACNot). Based on the quantum image information, encryption parameters are obtained and transferred as part of a chaotic initial key. Two natural DNA sequences are amplified to obtain the DNA coordinate sequence, and a modified chaos game representation is used to modify the DNA coordinate sequence, which is then used to correct the sequence generated by chaos. The resulting sequence is converted to an integer sequence to obtain DNACNot. A controlled-not operation is performed between DNACNot and the quantum image is scrambled by bit-plane to obtain the encrypted image. The encryption method has high security, a good encryption effect, and a large key space. The method can effectively resist exhaustive, statistical, and differential attacks. The algorithm is easy to implement at a low cost. The encryption time of our proposed method is satisfactory, and the method is suitable for real-time encryption. Moreover, the encryption results can be transmitted over the internet and stored in the cloud.
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Chaotic systems are highly suitable for cryptographic applications because of their extreme sensitivity to initial conditions, long-term unpredictability, and strong pseudorandomness.
“Chaotic systems are characterised by their extreme sensitivity to initial conditions and system parameters, resulting in extreme complexity, deterministic and nonlinear characteristics. These properties render chaotic systems highly suitable for cryptographic applications”
From A novel memristor-based hyperchaotic hybrid encryption system with DNA for image encryption on the Jetson TX2 (2025) · cites this paper as [8]
The ICMIC section (page unavailable) describes a chaotic map whose sequences are useful for the proposed encryption method, and the Key Sensitivity Analysis reports that small key changes prevent decryption. The paper does not state the broader claim that chaotic systems generally are suitable for cryptography because of long-term unpredictability, strong pseudorandomness, or deterministic and nonlinear characteristics. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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- Authors
- Zhou, S.
- Affiliations
- Dalian University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Zhou, Shihua
- ORCID
- Zhou, Shihua
- Venue
- IEEE Access
- Published
- 2020
- Volume
- 8
- Pages
- 178336-178344
- ISSN
- 2169-3536 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3089424266
- Cited by
- 35
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 0.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- IEEE Access (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC0910500)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (61425002, 61751203, 61772100, 61972266, 61802040, 61672121, 61572093)
- Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (IRT_15R07)
- Program for Liaoning Innovative Research Team in University (LT2017012)
- Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province (20180551241, 2019-ZD-0567)
- High-Level Talent Innovation Support Program of Dalian City (2017RQ060, 2018RQ75)
- Dalian Outstanding Young Science and Technology Talent Support Program (2017RJ08)
- Scientific Research Fund of Liaoning Provincial Education Department (JYT19051)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Chaos-based Image/Signal Encryption
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Quantum Information and Cryptography
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Computer Science and Engineering
- Keywords
- quantum image encryption, DNA cryptography, chaos game representation, chaotic key generation, key space, differential attack resistance, real-time encryption
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