Data Hiding in Color Images Using Huffman Coding and Histogram Modification

Abstract

Data hiding in digital images provides a secure communication medium by embedding the payload in a cover image without compromising the image quality. In this work, a secure and high-capacity data hiding scheme is proposed using efficient compression, encryption, and steganography techniques. Dictionary-based coding along with Huffman coding is used to compress the secret data and hence increase the embedding capacity. Two encrypted keys are generated to control the data decompression and hence improve the level of security. In addition, a block-based histogram modification technique is applied to embed the compressed data into the chrominance components of the cover image to minimize the image distortion. The results indicate that the proposed scheme achieves high embedding capacity without degrading the quality of the cover image.