A Novel Network Security Algorithm Based on Encrypting Text into a White-page Image

Abstract

—Nowadays, data security becomes a big issue and a
challenge when sending sensitive data through the Internet. For
example; sending user password, performing money
transaction (e-business) using a master card, and invoking
methods on a remote PC. All these activities require a secure
algorithm for protecting data from hackers and thus keep
information private and save.
There are various methods for securing data when they are
sent through the global network. Some of these techniques are
based on data encryption algorithms where the text message is
encrypted (scrambled) to another form that is not readable by
humans. One of the encryption techniques is based on the
transformation of a text into an image. In this paper, we
propose a simple and a novel data encryption algorithm based
on encrypting a text into a white page image (White-Page
Image Encryption Algorithm or the WPI algorithm).
In this paper, the proposed White-Page Image Encryption
Algorithm is tested and analyzed.

Full text

 Abstract—Nowadays, data security becomes a big issue and a
challenge when sending sensitive data through the Internet. For
example; sending user password, performing money
transaction (e-business) using a master card, and invoking
methods on a remote PC. All these activities require a secure
algorithm for protecting data from hackers and thus keep
information private and save.
There are various methods for securing data when they are
sent through the global network. Some of these techniques are
based on data encryption algorithms where the text message is
encrypted (scrambled) to another form that is not readable by
humans. One of the encryption techniques is based on the
transformation of a text into an image. In this paper, we
propose a simple and a novel data encryption algorithm based
on encrypting a text into a white page image (White-Page
Image Encryption Algorithm or the WPI algorithm).
In this paper, the proposed White-Page Image Encryption
Algorithm is tested and analyzed.
Index Terms— Encryption, Private Key, Secured
Communication, White- Page Encryption.
I. INTRODUCTION
rotecting sensitive data and keeping them private and
secure is not an easy task when these data are sent
through the Internet. This is because there are hackers in the
middle between the sender and the receiver fishing data. To
overcome this problem different methods for data encryption
are proposed. Some of these methods focus on transforming
data (e.g. text) into an image or musical notes. This paper
focuses on transforming the text into an image.
Fig.1 describes how data are encrypted using a private
key. As shown in Fig.1, the plain text (the text before
running the encryption algorithm) is encrypted using a
private key which is known to both the client and the server.
Then the encrypted text is sent through a secure channel to
the server. The server uses the same private key to decrypt
the receiving message and gets the original message. The
encryption algorithm is the algorithm used to transfer the
Manuscript received July 13, 2016; revised July 27, 2016.
Ahmad Abusukhon is with the Department of Computer Networks, Al-
Zaytoonah University of Jordan, Amman, 11733 Jordan, E-mail:
ahmad.abusukhon@zuj.edu.jo.
Zeyad Mohammad is with the Department of Computer Networks, Al-
Zaytoonah University of Jordan, Amman, 11733 Jordan, E-mail:
Z.Dosooq@zuj.edu.jo.
Mohammad Talib is with the Department of Computer Science, Khazar
University, Baku, Azerbaijan, E-mail: mtalib@khazar.org
original data (e.g. text message) into an unreadable or a
hidden form [1]. The core of the encryption algorithm is a
private key used by both encryption algorithm and
decryption algorithm.
Fig. 1 The Encryption process using a private key technique
The decryption algorithm is an algorithm used for
transforming the encrypted data into the original data [2], or
simply, it is the encryption algorithm working in reverse.
Hackers are unauthorized users who attack the Internet in
order to get sensitive data and to achieve various goals. One
way to attack the Internet is to use spoofed IP address. Thus,
it is essential to check the identity of the user on the Internet.
There are different techniques used for verifying and
validating the user's identity. These techniques include
digital signature, and digital certificate [3]. Digital signature
and digital certificate are not the focus of this research.
The well-known techniques used for data encryption are
private key encryption (or called symmetric encryption),
public-key encryption (or called asymmetric encryption),
digital signature, and hash functions [4].
A Novel Network Security Algorithm Based on
Encrypting Text into a White-page Image
Ahmad Abusukhon, Zeyad Mohammad, and Mohammad Talib
P
Client
Data D
An encryption Algorithm
uses private key (K) and
encrypts (D) into D'
Secure Channel
Server
Receives D'
Decrypts D' into D using the same
private key (K)
Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering and Computer Science 2016 Vol I
WCECS 2016, October 19-21, 2016, San Francisco, USA
ISBN: 978-988-14047-1-8
ISSN: 2078-0958 (Print); ISSN: 2078-0966 (Online)
WCECS 2016

In private key encryption, both the client and the server
agree on the encryption key. The encryption key is sent to
the other machine using a secure channel [5].
This paper proposes a new encryption algorithm based on
private-key technique.
Next, various techniques for data encryption are
discussed. These techniques are focusing on image
encryption, and text encryption.
Nithin, Anupkumar, and Hegde [6] proposed an image
encryption algorithm (called FEAL). There technique is
based on the DES encryption algorithm. In FEAL, the
original image is divided into a number of blocks, then an
encryption and decryption algorithms are carried out using
12 keys of size 16-bit.
M.Ali BaniYounes, and Janta[7] proposed an encryption
algorithm by which an image is divided into blocks. These
blocks are then reorganized into a transformed image, and
then the transformed image is encrypted using the Blowfish
algorithm.
Divya, Sudha, and Resmy[8] proposed to divide an image
into 8 × 8 blocks. They proposed to encrypt a portion of a
given image instead of encrypting the whole image to make
the encryption process faster. In their algorithm, the
resulting blocks are transformed from the spatial domain to
frequency domain.
M.Mishra, P. Mishra, Adhikary, and Kumar [9] proposed
a new method for image encryption based on Fibonacci and
Lucas series.
Singh and Gilhotra [10] proposed an encryption algorithm
in which a given word in a text is transformed into a floating
point between 0 and 1. The resulting floating number is then
transformed into a binary number that is in turn encrypted to
another binary number, and then the resulting binary number
is converted to a decimal number.
Huang, Chi Lee, and Hwang [11] proposed an encryption
algorithm which generates n2+n common secret keys in one
session.
Torkaman, Kazazi, and Rouddini [12] proposed a novel
encryption algorithm which provides a secure
communication while defeating the up to date attacks. There
algorithm is a combination of cryptographic and
steganography techniques.
Krishna [13] proposed a new mathematical model in
which the output of the Elliptic Curve Cryptography (EEC)
algorithm, a variable value, and a dynamic time stamp are
used to generate the cipher text.
Other techniques were proposed for encrypting a text
message into an image or musical notes. Some of these
techniques are presented next.
Dutta,Chakraborty, and Mahanti[14] proposed an
encryption algorithm which transfer the text message into
musical notes using MATLAB.
Yamuna, Sankar, Ravichandran, and Harish [15] proposed
to encrypt a text message into musical notes using two
phases encryption algorithm. In the first phase, the text
message is encrypted into a traditional Indian music and in
the second phase, the Indian music notes are encrypted into
western music notes.
Dutta, Kumar, and Chakraporty[16] proposed an
encryption method in which each letter in the text message is
transferred (mathematically) to musical notes. These musical
notes and the seed value for an encryption/decryption key
are sent to the receiver using the RSA algorithm.
The reset of this paper is organized as follows. Section II
presents the related work. Section III presents our work,
including research methodology, experiments, and the
analysis of the proposed algorithm. Finally, section IV
presents the conclusion and future work.
II. RELATED WORK
Bh, Chandravathi, and PRoja[17] presented Koblitz's
method and used it to map a message to a point in the
implementation of Elliptic Curve Cryptography [18, 19].
Singh and Gilhorta [5] proposed an encryption algorithm
based on the transformation of a word of text into a floating
point number (n). The resulting (n) is then encrypted into a
binary number (b), and then (b) is encrypted using an
encryption key.
Kumar, Azam, and Rasool[20] proposed a new technique
of data encryption. In this technique, three random numbers
are generated, say (r1), (r2), and (r3). The random number
r1 is used for rows transformation in a matrix (M), r2 is used
for columns transformation, and r3 is converted into a
binary number. Rows and columns transformation is based
on the value of the individual bits of that binary number.
Abusukhon and Talib [21], and Abusukhon, Talib, and
Issa [22] proposed the Text-to-Image Encryption algorithm
(TTIE). In their work, each letter in the text message is
transferred into an individual pixel with a specific color. All
pixels are then written to an image file of type "png."
Abusukhon [23] investigated using block cipher technique
with the (TTIE) algorithm. In this technique, the text
message is divided into a number of blocks then each block
is encrypted into a sub-image. Finally, all sub-images are
combined to form the final image.
Abusukhon, Talib, and Nabulsi[24] analyzed the
encryption time for the TTIE encryption algorithm. The
results from their work showed that the most significant time
is the time required to store the encrypted data into the hard
disk.
Abusukhon, Talib, and Almimi[25] proposed the
Distributed Text-to-Image Encryption Algorithm (DTTIE)
in order to improve the speed of the TTIE algorithm. In their
work, they used a server and seven nodes working as clients.
A large-scale data collection is distributed among seven
nodes where each node encrypts a partition of the data
collection. They evaluated the speed up of their system
when a large data collection (5.77 Giga Bytes) is used.
Abusukhon and Hawashin[26] proposed a novel secure
network communication protocol based on the
transformation from text data to a barcode image. In their
work, each letter from the alphabet list is encrypted into a
Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering and Computer Science 2016 Vol I
WCECS 2016, October 19-21, 2016, San Francisco, USA
ISBN: 978-988-14047-1-8
ISSN: 2078-0958 (Print); ISSN: 2078-0966 (Online)
WCECS 2016

black bar where each bar (corresponding to a specific letter)
consists of a specific number of black pixels.
Our work differs from the work presented in [21]-[25]. In
their work, each letter in the plain text is encrypted and
mapped into one colored pixel. In our proposed algorithm
(the White-Page Image encryption algorithm, WPI) each
individual letter in the text message is encrypted into an
individual White pixel making it difficult for hackers to
guess the encryption key. This is because hackers may think
that a white page does not contain any information (no
letters and no colors). In this paper we propose the WPI
encryption algorithm.
III. OUR WORK
In this paper, Java NetBeans is used as a vehicle to carry
out our experiments. The encryption algorithm, decryption
algorithm, client program, and the server program are all
implemented in java (NetBeans) and build from scratch.
A. Machine Specifications
All experiments in this paper are carried out using a single
machine with the following specifications; processor Intel
(R) core (TM)2, Duo CPU T5870 @ 2.00GHz, installed
memory (RAM) 2.00GB operating system Windows 7
Ultimate and hard disk 24.5 GB (free space).
B. Data Sample
The data sample is created and stored in a notepad file.
The data sample is shown Fig.2.
Fig. 2 Tested Data
C. Research Methodology and Evaluation
The plain text shown in Fig.2 is stored on the client
machine. The client encrypts the plain text using the
proposed algorithm (WPI) producing a White page image
holding the encrypted text. The client then sends the White
page image to the server machine using the loopback address
(127.0.0.1) and the port number 8080. The server when
receiving the cipher text decrypts it and retrieves the plain
text message. The WPI encryption algorithm is evaluated by
comparing the plain text on the client machine with the
retrieved text message on the server.
D. Our Experiments
Fig.3 shows the system architecture for our experiments.
The system consists of a client and a server communicating
with each other using the loopback address (127.0.0.1) and a
port number 8080. In other words, the client and the server
are running on the same machine.
Fig. 3 The system architecture for the WPI encryption algorithm
In this experiment, the plain text shown in Fig.2 is
encrypted on the client machine and sent to the server
machine as a white page image (image file of type ".png") as
shown in Fig.4.
Fig. 4 The white page image results from running the WPI algorithm.
Using the proposed algorithm (WPI), each letter from the
plain text is encrypted as an individual white pixel. We
create a red pixel at the end of the text for clarity. The red
pixel indicates the end of the encrypted text (i.e. the red
pixel is neither part of the encryption algorithm nor the
encrypted text).
To verify our algorithm, the client encrypts the data sample
shown in Fig.2, and then the encrypted text (.png file) is sent
Client
side
Plain
text
Encryption algorithm
WPI
Generate
white page
image
Server
White page
image
Decryption
algorithm (WPI
working in reverse)
Plain text
Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering and Computer Science 2016 Vol I
WCECS 2016, October 19-21, 2016, San Francisco, USA
ISBN: 978-988-14047-1-8
ISSN: 2078-0958 (Print); ISSN: 2078-0966 (Online)
WCECS 2016

to the server. The server decrypts the ".png" file and gets the
original message.
Unlike the previous work presented in [21]-[25] in this
paper, each individual letter is mapped into a white pixel, of
course there is a slight difference in the color density
between individual white pixels, but these differences are
not notable by humans. This makes it difficult for hackers to
guess the key. However, in the previous work each letter is
implemented by an individual color, for example, the red
color represents the letter "A", the green color represents the
letter "B" and so on. This could make it easier for hackers to
guess the original text.
E. Analysis of the Proposed Algorithm (WPI)
In this section, the maximum number of permutations
(How many times a hacker may try before he/she guesses the
encryption key and gets the original text) is calculated.
The white pixel is implemented in java by three integers
each has the value 255. In this experiment, we use the range
from 246 to 255 to implement different densities of white
pixels. For example, the letter "A" is implemented as
(254,255,255), the letter "B" is implemented as
(255,254,255) and the letter "C" is implemented as
(255,255,254) and so on.
The range (r) = 255 -246
= 9
Thus, we have 9 different cases produce the white color. But
each pixel consists of three integers and thus each case of the
above 9 cases produces 3 different pixels. In other words,
we have 27 cases (C) for producing the white pixels. Now,
we have 26 letters (L) and each letter can be assigned to one
of the 27 cases, and thus we have a number of permutations
(P) where:
!CLP 
(1)
Thus, p= 26×27!
=26 × 27 × 26 × 25 × … × 1
Note that as the value of (r) is increased, the value of (P) is
increased.
Note that in this paper the resulting image is a white page
image. However, using WPI algorithm we can produce
different color pages (i.e. red page, green page, and so on)
where hackers cannot easily distinguish between different
letters. This is because all letters are represented by nearly
the same color (e.g. white). Fig.5 describes the WPI
encryption algorithm.
Fig. 5 The WPI encryption and decryption algorithms
IV. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
In this paper, a novel encryption algorithm, the White
Page Image (WPI) encryption algorithm is proposed and
tested. The WPI is based on encrypting the plain text into a
white page image which is composed of white pixels slightly
differs in the color density. The decryption algorithm (the
WPI working in reverse) is also tested where the plain text
(the original message) is produced from the white page
received on the other side.
Section III-E showed that the maximum number of key
permutations is limited by the value of the range available to
create the white pixel in java (i.e. r).
The (WPI) algorithm could be used for off-line
encryption, e-mail encryption, as well as online data
encryption. In future, we propose to test the efficiency of the
(WPI) algorithm when a huge data size (multi Gigabytes) is
used.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We would like to acknowledge and extend our heartfelt
gratitude to Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan.
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// WPI encryption algorithm
Step 1: Count the letters in the plain text (say N)
Step 2: for (int c=1; c < = N; c++)
{
Step 3: Read a letter (L) from the plain text.
Step 4: Choose a white color (W) with a specific color
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Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering and Computer Science 2016 Vol I
WCECS 2016, October 19-21, 2016, San Francisco, USA
ISBN: 978-988-14047-1-8
ISSN: 2078-0958 (Print); ISSN: 2078-0966 (Online)
WCECS 2016

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Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering and Computer Science 2016 Vol I
WCECS 2016, October 19-21, 2016, San Francisco, USA
ISBN: 978-988-14047-1-8
ISSN: 2078-0958 (Print); ISSN: 2078-0966 (Online)
WCECS 2016