Efficient Image Encryption Method Incorporating DNA Coding and Chaotic Systems
K. Pradeep, Kruti Kamal Sutaria, Manisha Paliwal, Jaya Chitranshi · 2025
The secure transmission of digital images has become increasingly critical with the widespread use of multimedia technologies. Traditional encryption techniques, primarily designed for textual data, often fail to address the specific characteristics of image data, such as high redundancy and strong spatial correlations. To overcome these challenges, this paper proposes a novel image encryption method that integrates DNA coding with chaotic systems. A logistic map is used to generate chaotic sequences for scrambling pixel positions, while DNA encoding with dynamic complementary rules introduces an additional layer of security. Dynamic XOR operations between DNA-coded data and chaotic sequences further enhance confusion and diffusion. Experimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, achieving high entropy values close to 7.95, significantly reduced correlation coefficients around 0.003, uniform histogram distributions, and an average encryption time of approximately 12.5 milliseconds for 256×256 grayscale images. The method also demonstrates strong resistance to statistical and differential attacks. These findings confirm that the proposed approach offers a robust, efficient, and practical solution for real-time secure image transmission.