Data Hiding in Audio Signals using Elliptic Curve Cryptography, Huffman Code Algorithm and Low-Bit Encoding

Information security in this era has become very necessary for many aspects of life. The importance of security and privacy of data in the field of data communication has been discussed for many years. The discussion is as a result of the vulnerabilities associated with the use of the Internet and the significant strive computer technology has made in data communication. In this study, a method of audio file protection is proposed using audio steganography, elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), Huffman Code Algorithm and low-bit encoding. The novelty and the uniqueness of this proposed mechanism aims to improve the security and secrecy of audio data file transmitted over the untrusted internet medium. Audio files to be transmitted are first compressed to achieve reduced file size using Huffman code algorithm. The compressed audio files are then encrypted using elliptic curve cryptography. The compressed encrypted audio file is therefore embedded in the appropriate frame of the converted audio signal based on the histogram values using low-bit encoding scheme. The proposed system recorded low values of Bit Error Rate (BER) and Mean Square Error (MSE), high values of segmented signal-to-noise ratio (SNRseg), high values of payload capacity which far exceed the recommended threshold for audio steganography techniques. From the results obtained it can be concluded that, the study achieved higher level of security, payload capacity and robustness. The study experienced negligible level of distortion with high recorded values of SNRseg and low values of BER and MSE. General Terms Audio Signal, Huffman Code, Data Communication, Security