CRYPTO-STEG: A Hybrid Cryptology - Steganography Approach for Improved Data Security

Internet is a widely used medium for transfer of information due to its reach and ease of availability. However, internet is an insecure medium and any information might be easily intercepted and viewed during its transfer. Different mechanisms like cryptology and steganography are adopted to secu...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Atif Bin Mansoor, Zohaib Khan, Shoab AhmedKhan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Mehran University of Engineering and Technology 2012-04-01
Series:Mehran University Research Journal of Engineering and Technology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://publications.muet.edu.pk/research_papers/pdf/pdf625.pdf
_version_ 1818878991217459200
author Atif Bin Mansoor
Zohaib Khan
Shoab AhmedKhan
author_facet Atif Bin Mansoor
Zohaib Khan
Shoab AhmedKhan
author_sort Atif Bin Mansoor
collection DOAJ
description Internet is a widely used medium for transfer of information due to its reach and ease of availability. However, internet is an insecure medium and any information might be easily intercepted and viewed during its transfer. Different mechanisms like cryptology and steganography are adopted to secure the data communication over an inherently insecure medium like internet. Cryptology scrambles the information in a manner that an unintended recipient cannot easily extract the information, while steganography hides the information in a cover object so that it is transferred unnoticed in the cover. Encrypted data may not be extracted easily but causes a direct suspicion to any observer, while data hidden using steganographic techniques go inconspicuous. Cryptanalysis is the process of attacking the encrypted text to extract the information, while steganalysis is the process of detecting the disguised messages. In literature, both cryptology and steganography are treated separately. In this paper, we present our research on an improved data security paradigm, where data is first encrypted using AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and DES (Data Encryption Standard) cryptology algorithms. Both plain and encrypted data is hidden in the images using Model Based and F5 steganographic techniques. Features are extracted in DWT (Discrete Wavelet Transform) and DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) domains using higher order statistics for steganalysis, and subsequently used to train a FLD (Fisher Linear Discriminant) classifier which is employed to categorize a separate set of images as clean or stego (containing hidden messages). Experimental results demonstrate improved data security using proposed CRYPTO-STEG approach compared to plain text steganography. Results also demonstrate that the Model Based steganography is more secure than the F5 steganography.
first_indexed 2024-12-19T14:22:58Z
format Article
id doaj.art-dcd9e166edf143c8b68f3b652e25ef7e
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 0254-7821
2413-7219
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-19T14:22:58Z
publishDate 2012-04-01
publisher Mehran University of Engineering and Technology
record_format Article
series Mehran University Research Journal of Engineering and Technology
spelling doaj.art-dcd9e166edf143c8b68f3b652e25ef7e2022-12-21T20:17:44ZengMehran University of Engineering and TechnologyMehran University Research Journal of Engineering and Technology0254-78212413-72192012-04-01312219226625CRYPTO-STEG: A Hybrid Cryptology - Steganography Approach for Improved Data SecurityAtif Bin MansoorZohaib KhanShoab AhmedKhanInternet is a widely used medium for transfer of information due to its reach and ease of availability. However, internet is an insecure medium and any information might be easily intercepted and viewed during its transfer. Different mechanisms like cryptology and steganography are adopted to secure the data communication over an inherently insecure medium like internet. Cryptology scrambles the information in a manner that an unintended recipient cannot easily extract the information, while steganography hides the information in a cover object so that it is transferred unnoticed in the cover. Encrypted data may not be extracted easily but causes a direct suspicion to any observer, while data hidden using steganographic techniques go inconspicuous. Cryptanalysis is the process of attacking the encrypted text to extract the information, while steganalysis is the process of detecting the disguised messages. In literature, both cryptology and steganography are treated separately. In this paper, we present our research on an improved data security paradigm, where data is first encrypted using AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and DES (Data Encryption Standard) cryptology algorithms. Both plain and encrypted data is hidden in the images using Model Based and F5 steganographic techniques. Features are extracted in DWT (Discrete Wavelet Transform) and DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) domains using higher order statistics for steganalysis, and subsequently used to train a FLD (Fisher Linear Discriminant) classifier which is employed to categorize a separate set of images as clean or stego (containing hidden messages). Experimental results demonstrate improved data security using proposed CRYPTO-STEG approach compared to plain text steganography. Results also demonstrate that the Model Based steganography is more secure than the F5 steganography.http://publications.muet.edu.pk/research_papers/pdf/pdf625.pdfCryptologySteganographySteganalysisClassification
spellingShingle Atif Bin Mansoor
Zohaib Khan
Shoab AhmedKhan
CRYPTO-STEG: A Hybrid Cryptology - Steganography Approach for Improved Data Security
Mehran University Research Journal of Engineering and Technology
Cryptology
Steganography
Steganalysis
Classification
title CRYPTO-STEG: A Hybrid Cryptology - Steganography Approach for Improved Data Security
title_full CRYPTO-STEG: A Hybrid Cryptology - Steganography Approach for Improved Data Security
title_fullStr CRYPTO-STEG: A Hybrid Cryptology - Steganography Approach for Improved Data Security
title_full_unstemmed CRYPTO-STEG: A Hybrid Cryptology - Steganography Approach for Improved Data Security
title_short CRYPTO-STEG: A Hybrid Cryptology - Steganography Approach for Improved Data Security
title_sort crypto steg a hybrid cryptology steganography approach for improved data security
topic Cryptology
Steganography
Steganalysis
Classification
url http://publications.muet.edu.pk/research_papers/pdf/pdf625.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT atifbinmansoor cryptostegahybridcryptologysteganographyapproachforimproveddatasecurity
AT zohaibkhan cryptostegahybridcryptologysteganographyapproachforimproveddatasecurity
AT shoabahmedkhan cryptostegahybridcryptologysteganographyapproachforimproveddatasecurity