Abstract
In this paper, we propose an adaptive encryption scheme for color images using Multiple Distinct Chaotic Maps (MDCM) and DNA computing. We have chosen three distinct chaotic maps, including a 2D-Henon map, a Tent map, and a Logistic map, to separately encrypt the red, green, and blue channels of the original image. The proposed scheme adaptively modifies the parameters of the maps, utilizing various statistical characteristics such as mean, variance, and median of the image to be encrypted. Thus, whenever there is a change in the plain image, the secret keys also change. This makes the proposed scheme robust against the chosen and known plaintext attacks. DNA encoding has also been used to add another layer of security. The experimental analysis of the proposed scheme shows that the average value of entropy is approximately eight, the Number of Pixels Change Rate (NPCR) and Unified Average Changing Intensity (UACI) are 99.61% and 33%, respectively, and correlation coefficients close to zero, making the scheme not only reliable but also resilient against many attacks. Moreover, the use of low-dimensional maps reduces the computational costs of the scheme to a large extent.