An Analysis of Image Encryption Standards: A Brief Performance Comparison of DES vs AES

Abstract

The rapid progression of the Internet and communication technologies that have been extensively utilized in images is inevitable. The specific features of the images, like correlation between pixels, high transmission speed with constraint bandwidth, redundancy, and bulk capacity make traditional algorithms unfit for image encryption. Pre-encryption of data is needed for protection as cybercrime has reached the highest level. The information is continuously monitored, which makes encryption paramount from personal information traded on the dark web to application vulnerabilities. With the increasing use of digital images in communication and multimedia systems, efficient image encryption has become essential. This paper presents a brief comparison of the Data Encryption Standard (DES) and the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) for image encryption applications. DES, based on a 56-bit key and Feistel structure, offers low computational complexity but suffers from weak security and vulnerability to statistical and brute-force attacks. AES, using larger key sizes and a substitution–permutation network, provides stronger resistance to cryptanalysis. Reported studies show that AES achieves efficient entropy, encryption and decryption, MSE, PSNR and NPCR. This work confirms AES as a more suitable standard for modern image encryption.