Enhancing Data Hiding Methods for Improved Cyber Security Through Histogram Shifting Direction Optimization
Alek Nur Fatman, Tohari Ahmad, Ntivuguruzwa Jean De La Croix, Md. Sagar Hossen
Abstract
Advancements in information and communication technology have facilitated diverse operational environments, spanning across financial to military sectors.However, these advancements carry an escalation in cybersecurity threats, potentially compromising user privacy and security.Among the various mechanisms introduced to mitigate these threats, data hiding methods stand out.These methods embed covert data within cover data, such as audio and video files, thereby providing an additional layer of security.In this study, we develop upon the existing data hiding techniques, enhancing their capacity to conceal varied sizes of covert data.Our proposed method leverages both right and bottom context pixels for a more nuanced data hiding approach.The effectiveness of this scheme is evaluated by quantifying the quality of the stego data, represented by the Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) value.Our initial findings indicate that our method yields superior stego data quality, suggesting its potential to accommodate a larger volume of covert data while preserving the similarity between the cover and stego files.This study thus contributes to more robust and efficient data hiding techniques, bolstering cybersecurity measures in the face of increasing digital threats.