Level by Level Image Based Data Security Approach

Now-a-days, digital communication is part of every computing system. As the usage is increasing in every aspect of data transfer and sharing; so is the threat of information stealing and security. Data Security over the public network is the major concern of every communication expert. Cryptography and Steganography are the major techniques employed for hiding and securing the data from the channel intruders. This paper discusses a new approach that combines the concept of digital image processing, cryptography and steganography to provide a more secure data communication over the network This paper describes a multilevel technique for hiding the plain text into random 24-bit bitmap images while also scrambling and encrypting the data through image keys (Image Files are used as Keys).The multi-level architecture provides more number of attacks to be made by the intruder to crack the encryption