Securing Data Using Improved Cryptography and Steganography Techniques

Abstract

The rapid growth of digital communication and information exchange has increased the vulnerability of data to unauthorized access, interception, modification, and other cyber threats, making effective data security increasingly important. Conventional cryptographic techniques protect the content of data but may expose the existence of the communication, while steganography conceals the existence of information but may not provide sufficient protection if the hidden data is discovered or extracted. This study proposes an improved hybrid data security model that combines enhanced cryptographic and steganographic techniques to provide multiple layers of protection. In the proposed approach, data is first encrypted using an improved cryptographic technique to ensure confidentiality and prevent unauthorized access. The encrypted data is then concealed within a digital image using an enhanced Least Significant Bit (LSB) steganographic technique, thereby reducing the likelihood of detection during transmission or storage. The performance of the proposed model is evaluated using security strength, embedding capacity, Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR), Mean Squared Error (MSE), and resistance to common attacks and steganalysis. The proposed approach is expected to improve data confidentiality and concealment while maintaining high visual quality of the stego-image and adequate data embedding capacity. The study demonstrates that integrating improved cryptography with steganography can provide stronger data protection than using either technique independently. The proposed model has potential applications in secure communication, financial transactions, healthcare information systems, military communication, cloud environments, and confidential data storage and transmission.