Differential pulse code modulation in audio steganography

Abstract

In this digital age, there has been a surge in the transmission of digital data. This data is not secure and it can be easily intercepted and misused by an eavesdropper. To secure this data, steganography is used. Steganography is the art and science of passing hidden messages in such a way that only sender and the intended receiver can detect the existence of the hidden audio. If the existence of a message is unknown, it makes it harder to decrypt that message. Audio steganography is the field of steganography which hides the secret message in another medium. The secret message is embedded in a host message called cover audio. This cover audio is sent to the receiver who has a key to extract the hidden audio from the cover audio. The cover audio acts as a blanket to hide the message and the key acts as an extra layer of security. Audio steganography takes the advantage of the limitations and functioning of the human auditory system. This paper introduces and explains a way to improve the security by using differential pulse code modulation (DPCM).