A novel image cryptosystem using Gray code, quantum walks, and Henon map for cloud applications

Abstract Cloud computing plays a vital task in our daily lives, in which an enormous amount of data is stored daily on cloud storage. The highest priority for cloud data storage is guaranteeing the security of confidential data. The security of confidential data can be realised through utilising one of the cryptographic mechanisms including encryption and data hiding. With the rapid development for the realization of quantum computers, modern cryptosystems may be cracked including cloud systems. Accordingly, it is a crucial task for achieving confidentiality of data stored on cloud storage before the availability of quantum computers. Therefore, this study aims to utilise one of the quantum computational models, as a quantum-inspired system, to layout a new data confidentiality technique that can be applied in digital devices to have the capability for resisting the potential attacks from quantum and digital computers. In this paper, a new image security algorithm for real-time cloud applications using Gray code, quantum walks (QW), and Henon map is proposed. In the proposed image cryptosystem, the generated key streams from QW and Henon map is related to the plain image with high sensitivity of slight bit changes on the plain image. The outcomes based on deep analysis proves that the presented algorithm is efficient with high security for real-time application.