Triple Encryption of Images based on RC4, Zigzag, and Elliptic Curve Algorithms for Enhanced Security

Abstract

The security of digital images is of paramount importance in today's digital world. Encryption is a technique used to secure digital images from unauthorized access. The encryption technique transforms the original image into a scrambled form, which is unreadable to anyone without the proper decryption key. Several encryption techniques have been proposed to secure digital images, including DES, AES, RSA, and ECC. These methods, however, are susceptible to side-channel and brute-force attacks. Hence, new encryption methods that offer more security are required. The new multi-encryption algorithm for secure digital image encryption is presented in this research. The suggested approach combines the RC4, Zigzag transformation, and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) algorithms to increase the security of picture encryption. Data is encrypted using the RC4 stream cipher, image data is scrambled using the Zigzag method, and the key used in the transformation is encrypted using the ECC technique. The proposed algorithm was tested using several standard metrics, and the results show that it outperforms existing encryption techniques in terms of security.