A novel image scrambling algorithm based on Sudoku puzzle

This paper introduces a novel image scrambling algorithm based on Sudoku puzzle. According to the special property that every number from 1 to N appears only once in each row or column in an N*N Sudoku puzzle, a 1-1 relationship can be setup between two Sudoku puzzles and these two Sudoku puzzles will be used to map the original images to a scrambled one. This algorithm scrambles the image both at pixel level and bits level in order to increase the security of the information and to make the scrambled image appear containing no information. Due to the large numbers of the bases (pre-filled units in the Sudoku puzzle), this algorithm significantly improves the security of the information included in the scrambled image. The results show that the image scrambled by this algorithm appears including no information and the original image cannot be restored without right keys.