Enhancing QR Code Security: Authentication and Tamper Detection Using Visual Cryptography
Prince Bhardwaj, Shubham Agrawal, A Harshel Srivatsava, Rajeswari Mukesh · 2024
Visual cryptography is a powerful encryption technique that splits a secret image into a meaningless image, appearing as black and white dots randomly embedded in the image. This article examines the application of visual cryptography and steganography in improving the security of QR codes. The plan is to hide the QR code in an image using an encryption algorithm and print it on transparent paper. The original image is displayed with a shared image without the need for computer decryption algorithms. Standard (k, n) aspect cryptography is adopted; where n represents the number of shares created and k represents the minimum number of shares required for decryption. Under dispersion below the k threshold does not reveal any information about the original image. This study also analyzed changes in entropy. The proposed model combines cryptography and steganography, providing two security layers: cryptography as the outer layer and steganography as the inner layer. Comparing steganography algorithms called Least Significant Bit (LSB) and Random Data Hiding (RDH) strengthens security. The results and analysis demonstrate the effectiveness of the design in improving QR code security while maintaining image quality. This research contributes to the field by providing a way to transmit information securely through QR codes, with applications in various fields.