Integration of Chaotic Map with Metaheuristic Walrus Algorithm for Enhanced Security of Image Encryption Method

Image encryption (IE) methods have been used to secure the sensitive secret images and overcome the data breach attacks. In these methods, the chaotic map algorithms gained popularity over other security algorithms. However, these algorithms are highly sensitive to input parameters that impact the security of the encryption method. Therefore, in this paper, we have strengthened the security of the IE method by integrating the chaotic map with the metaheuristic walrus algorithm to hyper-tune the input parameters according to the chi-square objective function. In the presented methodology, the open-source database images were collected for evaluation purposes. Thereafter, it was passed through three stages of encryption to produce the final encrypted image. The first and last stages utilize the shuffling method to rearrange the secret image, while the second stage employs an exclusive-OR operation with a random key. The shuffling method index value and random key were generated using the 3-D chaotic map. According to the results, the proposed strategy achieves a high entropy value and reduced CC, SSIM, and PSNR values while passing the chi-square test.