Chaotic Image Encryption by Intra-Channel Diffusion and Inter-Channel Confusion
Open accessAbstract
Most image encryption schemes exhibit one or more of the following limitations: keystream bias, high residual pixel correlation, pattern leakage, low sensitivity to key changes, or a security-efficiency trade-off. We present a robust image encryption framework based on a chaotic system that operates across the red, green, and blue color channels and mitigates all of the above vulnerabilities. The scheme consists of a novel integration of strong bidirectional modular diffusion, inter-channel confusion using a six-state permutation table, and Secure Hash Algorithm 256-based key derivation. Thus, we achieve the following: lossless reconstruction, near-ideal entropy, negligible adjacency correlation, high sensitivity to infinitesimal changes in both the plaintext and the secret key, a complete diffusion effect confirmed by standard differential metrics, and resilience against known- and chosen-plaintext attacks. Furthermore, the results comply with the National Institute of Standards and Technology randomness tests. These results are obtained with competitive encryption times (∼0.37 s for 512 × 512 images) without any code optimization. All of these features make the scheme promising for secure real-time visual data transmission, particularly in telemedicine and Internet of Things surveillance.
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- Authors
- Vargas Valencia, J. A., Arango, C. A. M., García, J. D., Guerra, R. U., & Gómez, L. F. D.
- Affiliations
- Centro de Ciencias de la Computación, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Aplicadas, Instituto Tecnológico Metropolitano (ITM), Calle 73 No. 76A-354, Medellín 054959, Colombia
- Universidad de Antioquia (CO)
- Ciencia 5D, Calle 46 No 81-38, Int 202, Medellín 050032, Colombia
- University of Atacama (CL)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Cybersecurity and Privacy
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2026-06-08
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 101
- ISSN
- 2624-800X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W7163888365
- Semantic Scholar
- 81313a7c2b35d5a86e3c8a589d5fb672d2c0d81e
- Cited by
- 1
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1
- FWCI
- 3.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Cybersecurity and Privacy (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Chaos-based Image/Signal Encryption
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Computer Science and Engineering
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Cryptographic Implementations and Security
- Keywords
- image encryption, chaotic systems, RGB color channels, pixel correlation, key sensitivity, known-plaintext attack resistance, chosen-plaintext attack resistance, telemedicine
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