Using 2D Hénon Map, Cycling Chaos and DNA Sequence for New Secure Color Image Encryption Algorithm

In recent years, protecting secure images from unauthorized use has become a necessity, which can be accomplished with image encryption. In this article, a new method for image encryption is introduced that uses DNA sequences, a chaotic map with three cells called cycling chaos, and a 2D H'enon map. These two chaos maps and DNA sequence are employed to scramble the position of the pixels and also modify the values of the pixels in three channels using two DNA mask images that are generated using Cycling Chaos. In the first phase, a two-dimensional H'enon map is used to scramble pixels' positions in a plain image using two non-repetitive sequences. In the second phase, the scrambled image is applied by two defined DNA operations to two DNA mask images, which are produced using cycling chaos. The performance and efficiency of the introduced method are examined on a well-known experimental image database (Caltech Face Dataset), where the results show a considerable reduction in the correlation between two vertical, horizontal, and diagonally adjacent pixels as well as a notable increase in the system uncertainty, which is tested by information entropy and correlation coefficient. Despite its high efficiency and robustness against multiple attacks, the proposed method can be implemented simply and does not require a lot of computing time.