A Multilayer Nonlinear Permutation Framework and Its Demonstration in Lightweight Image Encryption

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Information Security
• Cryptography

Background:

• Data security is critical in widespread information systems, especially for multimedia data.
• Traditional encryption struggles with images/videos, necessitating specialized approaches.
• Lightweight image encryption is vital for mobile and Internet of Things (IoT) devices due to resource constraints.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel nonlinear matrix permutation approach for lightweight image encryption.
• To enhance both confusion and diffusion phases using a combination of chaotic maps.
• To provide a secure and efficient encryption framework for resource-limited environments.

Main Methods:

• A nonlinear matrix permutation technique was developed for image encryption.
• Three chaotic maps (2D Zaslavsky, 1D Chebyshev, 1D logistic) were used to generate permutation and diffusion sequences.
• The proposed scheme was evaluated on 14 color images from the SIPI dataset.

Main Results:

• The method achieved high performance, processing each image in a single iteration.
• Key performance metrics include high average NPCR (99.6122) and UACI (33.4690).
• Low average correlation (0.0006) and high information entropy (7.9993) indicate strong security with a large key space (2^800).

Conclusions:

• The proposed nonlinear matrix permutation approach is effective for lightweight image encryption.
• It offers a robust and efficient alternative for securing images on mobile and IoT devices.
• The harmonious use of chaotic maps provides a strong security foundation for multimedia data.