Wavelet transform-based steganographic method for secure data communication using OFDM system

Abstract

Purpose

Fueled by the rapid growth of internet, steganography has emerged as one of the promising techniques in the communication system to obscure the data. Steganography is defined as the process of concealing the data or message within media files without affecting the perception of the image. Media files, like audio, video, image, etc., are utilized to embed the message. Nowadays, steganography is also used to transmit the medical information or diagnostic reports. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the novel wavelet transform-based steganographic method is proposed for secure data communication using OFDM system. The embedding and extraction process in the proposed steganography method exploits the wavelet transform. Initially, the cost matrix is estimated by the following three aspects: pixel intensity, edge transformation and wavelet transform. The cost estimation matrix provides the location of the cover image where the message is to be entrenched. Then, the wavelet transform is utilized to embed the message into the cover image according to the cost value. Subsequently, in the extraction process, the wavelet transform is applied to the embedded image to retrieve the message efficiently. Finally, in order to transfer the secret information over the channel, the newly developed wavelet-based steganographic method is employed for the OFDM system.

Findings

The experimental results are evaluated and performance is analyzed using PSNR and MSE parameters and then compared with existing systems. Thus, the outcome of our wavelet transform steganographic method achieves the PSNR of 71.5 dB which ensures the high imperceptibility of the image. Then, the outcome of the OFDM-based proposed steganographic method attains the higher PSNR of 71.07 dB that proves the confidentiality of the message.

Originality/value

In the authors’ previous work, the embedding and extraction process was done based on the cost estimation matrix. To enhance the security throughout the communication system, the novel wavelet-based embedding and extraction process is applied to the OFDM system in this paper. The idea behind this method is to attain a higher imperceptibility and robustness of the image.

Citation

Nipanikar, S.I. and Deepthi, V.H. (2017), "Wavelet transform-based steganographic method for secure data communication using OFDM system", International Journal of Intelligent Computing and Cybernetics, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 362-386. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJICC-11-2016-0051