Multi-Image Encryption Based Embedding Scheme for Secure Data Hiding

With the rapid expansion of digital communication systems, ensuring the confidentiality of sensitive information has become a critical challenge. Image steganography offers an effective solution by concealing secret data within digital images such that the existence of the message remains hidden. This work proposes a secure multi-image Least Significant Bit (LSB) steganography framework enhanced with lightweight XOR-based encryption. In the proposed method, a long secret message is divided into multiple segments, encrypted using a randomly generated XOR key, and embedded into the least significant bits of different cover images. Distributing encrypted data across several images significantly improves security, as compromising a single image does not reveal meaningful information. Moreover, this approach enables high payload capacity while maintaining excellent visual quality. The performance of the proposed system is evaluated using Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR), entropy analysis, and histogram comparison. Experimental results demonstrate that the stego images remain visually indistinguishable from the original images, ensure accurate message recovery, and show strong resistance to statistical steganalysis. These characteristics make the proposed technique suitable for secure communication, data protection, and digital watermarking applications.