2012 IEEE Symposium on Computers & Informatics
Image Encryption Using Random Pixel Permutation
by Chaotic Mapping
G.A.Sathishkumar1, Srinivas Ramachandran2
Associate Professor1, Under Graduate Student2
Department of Electronics and Communication
Engineering1,2
Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering1,2
Sriperumbudur1,2, Chennai, India
Email:sathish@svce.ac.in1, srini.ecec@gmail.com2
Abstract— With the fast evolution of digital data exchange,
security of information becomes much important in data storage
and transmission. Due to the increasing use of images in
industrial processes, it is essential to protect confidential images
from unauthorized access. We have proposed a new image
encryption algorithm using random pixel permutation based on
chaos logistic maps and prime modulo multiplicative linear
congruential generators. The random-like nature of chaos is
effectively spread into the encrypted image through permutation
and transformation of pixels in the plain image. The pixel
transformation results in the encryption scheme being resistive to
cryptanalytic attacks. Simulation results show high sensitivity to
key, plaintext and cipher text changes. From a cryptanalytic
point of view, the scheme is highly resistive to known/chosen
plaintext and cipher text attacks. The proposed technique gives
good parametric and sensitivity results proving itself an eligible
candidate for image encryption. Moreover it is a lossless
encryption technique and hence apt for securing medical and
military image.
Keywords- Image encryption; Non-linear chaotic dynamic
system; Stream generator; Security analysis; Cryptography.
I. INTRODUCTION
With rapid developments in the multimedia and
communications industry, a great deal of concern has been
raised regarding the security of an image transmitted or stored
over open channels. A major challenge is to protect the
confidentiality of such images in wired and wireless networks.
The most effective method is to encrypt the image so that only
authorized entities with the key can decrypt them. The
limitations on using encryption for securing images are: (1)
Perceptual quality control - An image encryption algorithm
can be used to intentionally degrade the quality of the image.
However, the degradation must be visually unperceivable, (2)
Real-time constraint - In many multimedia applications, very
efficient encryption and decryption algorithms are needed to
access images in a real-time environment. As one of the speed
up techniques, selected parts of the images are encrypted.
Most chaos-based encryption schemes, are based on
permutation, and basically produce a long random sequence
by using chaos maps as pseudorandom number generators and
encrypt a plain image by swapping the original coordinates of
pixels with the random sequence generated, thereby
978-1-4673-1686-6/12/$26.00 ©2012 IEEE
Dr.K.Bhoopathy Bagan
Professor
Department of Electronics
Madras Institute of Technology
Anna University Chrompet Campus
Chennai, India
Email:kboopathy02@yahoo.com
scrambling the pixels [7] and [11]. We have proposed a new
image encryption scheme which provides reasonable security
even if the generated random sequence from chaotic maps has
short periodic orbits. In the proposed algorithm, the pixels of
the plaintext image are first scrambled using a pseudorandom
sequence generated using prime modulo multiplicative linear
congruential generators (PMMLCG) and then the pixels are
permuted and transformed using chaos logistic maps. The
pixels in the image are permuted using the pseudorandom
sequence as the index of the row or column to be permuted.
However, the pseudorandom permutation discussed above
should be repeated several times to provide reasonable
security since this approaches shuffles image pixels locally.
Through the proposed scheme, our main goals are to achieve
high level of security and high robustness against statistical
cryptanalysis. The remainder of the paper is organized as
follows. In Section II, description of the overall framework of
the proposed image encryption scheme is presented and the
construction of the primitive pseudorandom sequences and
chaotic maps is discussed in detail. Section III evaluates the
security of the proposed algorithm via several randomness
tests and compares it with earlier techniques. Finally, in
Section IV the conclusion of the paper is presented.
II. PROPOSED IMAGE ENCRYPTION TECHNIQUE
The proposed technique first generates a prime modulo
multiplicative linear congruential generator sequence and a
chaos logistic sequence. The effectiveness of the algorithm
depends on the randomness of the generated sequences. The
PMMLCG sequence is generated depending on the input
secret key and the chaotic binary sequence is generated
depending on the size of the image, secret key and the
predefined value of µ (3.9876543210001, 4). The choice of µ
affects the dynamics of the system and guarantees the chaotic
state of the system with perfect randomness. The initial seed
for the random sequence generators are derived from the
secret key, thereby making the technique highly sensitive to
key changes. The sequences are then used to scramble the
position of pixels in the plain image and the values of pixels
are transformed by simple bitwise XOR operation between
adjacent pixel values. The algorithm of the proposed technique
is illustrated in Fig. 1 and described below.
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 x1 , x2 ,...xk ,...x N  Step 2: Permute the ith row of the image I with the xith row and
PMMLCG XOR pixel values in adjacent rows. Permute the kth column
Plain image
{MxN} with xkth column and XOR pixel values in adjacent columns,
x1, x2 ,...xk ,...xM  for all values of i from 1 to M and k from 1 to N.
Step 3: If i=M and k = N, end the iteration. Otherwise,
Row scrambling increment i and k and Repeat the previous step.
Step 4: Scramble each pixel I(i, j) in the image to a position
XOR pixels in adjacent rows I(xi , xk ), with xi taken from one sequence and xk taken from the
other.
Step 5: Similarly, we can have an arbitrary chaotic iteration,
Column scrambling xn1   ( xn )(1  xn ) where xn  (0,1) (2)
to generate two chaotic sequences of real numbers of lengths
M and N respectively. The initial seed value x0 for one of the
XOR pixels in adjacent columns
sequences is derived from the secret key and the first element
of this sequence is used as the initial seed for the second
Scramble each pixel sequence.
Step 6: Permute the ith row of the image I with the xith row and
XOR pixel values in adjacent rows. Permute the kth column
x1 , x2 ,...xk ,...x N  with xkth column and XOR pixel values in adjacent columns,
Chaos map for all values of i from 1 to M and k from 1 to N.
Step 7: If i=M and k = N, end the iteration. Otherwise,
increment i and k and repeat the previous step.
x1, x2 ,...xk ,...xM  Step 8: XOR the pixels with the chaos sequence generated and
display the cipher image.
Row scrambling
B. Key Stream Generator
XOR pixels in adjacent rows
The secret key is used along with the initialization
parameters of the random sequence generators, to produce
perfectly random streams whose length depends on the integer
Column scrambling
value of the size of the image. The streams are generated
according to (1) and (2). The initial parameters for the chaotic
stream are the values of µ, the width or height of the image
XOR pixels in adjacent columns depending on whether the stream is used for row or column
scrambling respectively and the initial seed derived from the
XOR pixels in each row with secret key. The proper choice of µ ensures that the system is in
chaos sequence a chaotic state and outputs perfectly random sequences.
Similarly, the initial parameters for the PMMLCG stream are
the large initial seed and the value of the multiplier. A total of
five random sequences are generated and employed at various
stages in the proposed algorithm.
Cipher Image C. Pseudo code
Figure 1. Illustration of the proposed technique READ plain image and key.
GENERATE two PMMLCG sequences defined by (1), using
A. Algorithm
an initial seed derived from the key.
Step 1: Read an input plain image. PERMUTE ROWS of the plain image
For the Gray scale image I of size M x N pixels, we can WHILE i!=M
generate two PMMLCG sequences of real numbers of lengths I(i , :) I(xi , :)
M and N respectively as given by, I(i , :)= I(i , :) I(i+1 , :)
xn1  axn mod q , (1) END
PERMUTE COLUMNS of the resulting image
where, a is a multiplier. The initial seed value x0 for one of WHILE k!=N
the sequences is derived from the secret key and the first I(: , j) I(: , xk )
element of this sequence is used as the initial seed for the I(: , j)= I(: , j) I(: , j+1)
second sequence. END
SCRAMBLE Each Pixel in the Image

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 WHILE (i!=M and k!=N)  Cross–correlation: The cross–correlation coefficient
I(i , j) I(xi , xk ) [1], [2] and [10] CAB between the plain image A and the
END cipher image B quantifies the level to which the
GENERATE two Chaos sequences defined by (2), using an encrypted image pixels are relatively randomized. The
initial seed derived from the key. closer it is to zero, the better. Our proposed algorithm
PERMUTE ROWS of the plain image produces cipher images with cross correlation values
WHILE i!=M (horizontal, vertical and diagonal correlation) that are
I(i , :) I(xi , :) lower than other chaos-based image encryption
I(i , :)= I(i , :) I(i+1 , :) schemes. Fig. 5 compares the correlation results
END obtained using the proposed algorithm and the
correlation results using AES encryption scheme [13].
PERMUTE COLUMNS of the resulting image
The cross- correlation is given by
WHILE k!=N
I(: , j) I(: , xk ) 1 r c
I(: , j)= I(: , j) I(: , j+1)  ( Ai, j  A)( Bi, j  B)
r c i j (4)
END C AB 
r c r c
1 1
XOR pixels in each row with the chaos map. (  ( Ai, j  A) 2 )( r  c 
r c i j
( Bi , j  B) 2 )
WHILE i!=M i j

I(i , :)= I(i , :) (Logistic map) r c 1 r c

Where A  ( 1 ) and B  (  Bi, j ) . (5)
END
r c
 A i, j
r  c i 1 j 1
WRITE the cipher image. i 1 j 1

III. EFFECTIVENESS
A. Qualitative analysis
 Net Pixel Change Rate: Net Pixel Change Rate
Qualitative analysis includes perception of the images and
the analysis of histogram [11] (the plot of gray levels in an in
an image against their frequencies of occurrence). Fig. 3 shows
the result of encrypting the Lena image, shown in Fig. 2, using
the proposed algorithm. Fig. 2 shows several spikes in the
histogram of the plain image due to gray levels which have
Ai,j and Bi,j are the pixels in the ith row and jth column of
A and B respectively and r, c represent the no. of rows
and columns in the image.
(NPCR) [1] and [9], is the measure of the number of
cipher text pixels changed between two plaintext
images A and A’ differing by only one pixel, and
encrypted using the same encryption algorithm.
r c

greater probability of occurrence in the image. After encrypting  d i, j

the image using the proposed encryption technique, the NPCR 
i 1 j 1
100% (6)
histogram is uniform and all gray levels have same frequency r c
of occurrence with the same probability. The histogram of the
0,if , A  A'
cipher image has no statistical relation to the plain image and Where d i , j 1,if , Aii,,jj A'ii,, jj .
hence does not provide any clue for a statistical attack on the
proposed encryption scheme.
The expected NPCR value for a good encryption
technique is 1–n-1 ×100% ≈ 99.6094%. Our results
B. Quantitative Analysis average to 99.58%.
The results of applying the technique over various images
are listed in the Table II, which also presents a comparison  Unified Average Change in Intensity: The Unified
between our technique and earlier chaos-based image Average Change in Intensity (UACI) [1] and [9], is a
encryption techniques [12]. measure of the average intensity difference between
two cipher images.
 Entropy: Entropy [9] h is a cumulative measure of the
c ( A  A'
i, j )
r
frequency of the intensity levels in an image. Due to 1
(
i, j
the characteristics of the human eye, which is
UACI  ) 100% . (7)
r  c i 1 j 1 n 1
insensitive to high frequency components, an image of
high entropy is not visually perceivable. Entropy is The expected UACI for a good encryption scheme is
given by n 1

h   ( pi log 2 pi ) , (3)
1  i(i  1)
i UACI exp ected   i 1
100% (8)
n2 n 1
where pi is the frequency of intensity level i in the
= 33.4635%.
image. The maximum h an 8–bit image can attain is 8.
The average of our results is 7.99. Hence a statistical Our encryption scheme reaches an average UACI of
attack is difficult to make. 20-22%.

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  Average moving distance of scrambling: The average one bit, is shown in Fig. 4. The results substantiate that
moving distance of scrambling [14] is given by, our technique has high degree of key sensitivity [1], [2]
and [6].
1 r c
D  (w  i) 2  (v  j) 2 ,
r  c i 1 j 1
(9)  Encryption key sensitivity: We have measured the
parametric changes between encrypted images of
where, (i, j) represents a pixel coordinate in the original lena.tif with two keys differing by 1 bit and obtained a
image and (w, v) represents the pixel coordinate of that NPCR of 99.26, thus proving the difficulty of a related
point in the scrambled image. A large value of average key attack [1], [2] and [6].
moving distance of scrambling indicates that the
original image and the scrambled image are less
related, and hence the efficiency of the scrambling
technique is high. The scrambling technique used in
our proposed technique uses four different random
sequences to scramble pixels in 4 stages as explained
in section II. Our proposed technique gives an average
moving distance of scrambling of 135.0582 at each
stage, which substantiates the efficiency of the
proposed algorithm.
 PSNR: Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio is commonly used Figure 2. Original Lena image and its histogram
as a measure of quality of the encryption technique. In
image encryption, a low value of PSNR for the cipher
image implies that the cipher image is noise-like, i.e.,
the amount of significant signal information available
is very less in the cipher image. The PSNR results
obtained by encrypting sample images with our
proposed technique, in comparison to the PSNR
obtained in earlier chaos-based techniques [11], [13] is
presented in Table I. Our results provide a PSNR lower
than that of currently existing techniques, thereby
showing significant improvement. Figure 3. Encrypted image and its histogram

C. Key Space Analysis

The key space for a good cryptosystem should be
sufficiently large to make the brute force attack infeasible. Key
space implies the total number of different keys which can be
used for the purpose of encryption and decryption. With
respect to the speed of today’s computers, the key space should
be more than 2100 =1030 in order to avoid brute-force attacks
[7]. Our proposed technique uses different chaotic sequences
with different keys, i.e., one sequence for row scrambling, Figure 4. Image decrypted with a wrong key and its histogram
another sequence for column scrambling and another for XOR
at the last stage. Similarly two different PMMLCG’s are used
for row and column scrambling respectively. As a result,
considering the number of iterations involved in generating the
0.1
maps even before the actual encryption/decryption begins, a
very large key-space of the order of ~1050, is logically effected. 0.08
AES
This is sufficient enough to resist brute-force attacks. The 0.06
proposed algorithm is highly sensitivity to changes even in AES+A5
only the least significant bit of the key as demonstrated in Fig.4 0.04 AES+W7
by decrypting the cipher image using wrong key (varying by 0.02 MAES
only one bit from the original key). Proposed
0
Horizontal Vertical
D. Key sensitivity Corrrelation Correlation
Here we analyze 2 scenarios. Figure 5. Comparison of correlation results
 Decryption key sensitivity: The results of decrypting
the encrypted image of Lena, shown in Fig. 3, with a
wrong key differing from the original private key by

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 TABLE I. QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS (PSNR RESULTS)

Image Our technique Previous techniques [1],[11],[13]

Lena.tif 14.87 16.98
Peppers.tif 12.93 17.88
Flowers.tif 9.88 12.45

TABLE II. QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS AFTER ENCRYPTION

Statistical parameters [1], [11], [13]

Correlation between plain Vertical Horizontal Diagonal
and cipher image Correlation Correlation Correlation
Image Other
Other chaos Our Other chaos Our Other chaos Our Our
chaos
based proposed based proposed based proposed proposed
based
techniques technique techniques technique technique technique technique
techniques
- 6.1326e- 7.4296e- -
Lena.tif 0.00054724 0.00056377 0.0026055 0.0030529
0.00012303 005 005 0.00036864
- -8.2355e- -
Baboon.tif 0.00029386 0.00085212 -0.0043138 0.0012446 0.0023807
0.00096242 006 0.00077468
- - -
Einstein.tif 0.0017981 -0.0013511 -0.043009 0.0037638 0.0035791
0.00042385 0.00016452 0.00030802
-5.7295e- -
Airplane.tif 0.00047238 -0.0002919 0.0016569 0.00056342 0.0034121 0.00093238
005 0.00082698
- -
Peppers.tif 0.0027676 0.00054033 -0.0018489 0.00070854 0.005644 0.0037482
0.00065191 0.00024765

[4] Gao T, Chen Z. “Image encryption based on a new total shuffling

IV. CONCLUSION
Chaos theory has been proven as an ideal candidate for a
fast and reliable image encryption scheme, with high degree of
security. We have proposed a new image encryption scheme
based on pixel scrambling using both chaos logistic map and
PMMLCG generators, thereby enhancing the security of the
image over an open channel. The correlation results obtained
by encrypting sample images with our proposed technique in
MATLAB version 7, shows significant improvements in terms
of security as compared to existing techniques. By analyzing
the statistical parameters of images encrypted in our
experimental tests, we have shown that the proposed algorithm
provides good security against statistical cryptanalysis.
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