One of the crucial aspects of processes and methodologies in the information and communication technology era is the security of information. The security of information should be a key priority in the secret exchange of information between two parties. In order to ensure the security
of information, there are some strategies which are used, and they include steganography and cryptography. With cryptography, the secret message is converted into unintelligible text, but the existence of the secret message is noticed, nonetheless, steganography involves hiding the secret
message in a way that its presence cannot be noticed. In this paper, a new secure image steganography framework which is known as an adaptive stego key LSB (ASK-LSB) framework is proposed. The construction of the proposed framework was carried out in four phases with the aim of improving the
data-hiding algorithm in cover images by using capacity, image quality, and security. To achieve this, the Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) of the steganography framework was maintained. The four phases began with the image preparation phase, followed by the secret message preparation phase,
embedding phase and finally extraction phase. The secure image steganography framework that is proposed in this study is based on a new adaptive of least significant bit substitution method, combination random function, and encryption method. In the proposed work, the secret bits are inserted
directly or inversely, thereby enhancing the imperceptibility and complexity of the process of embedding. Results from the experiment reveal that the algorithm has better image quality index, peak signal-to-noise ratio, and payload used in the evaluation of the stego image.