Reversible data hiding with segmented secrets and smoothed samples in various audio genres

Tohari Ahmad,Yoga Samudra

doi:10.1186/s40537-020-00360-3

Abstract

In this age, information technology has grown significantly. Computer networks, which connect a device to others, have made it easier for people to transfer data than before. Moreover, smart devices have the capability of supporting this data transmission, including those in the cloud that may contain massive data. However, the security factor can be a severe issue if sensitive big data, such as military and medical data, do not have enough protection. Furthermore, an attacker may be able to disclose such data. Some algorithms have been introduced to solve that problem, one of which is the data hiding method. Nevertheless, some factors are still challenging, concerning the capacity of the secret data and the quality of the generated data, which are represented by bit and Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR), respectively. Besides, some techniques are not reversible, which means that they cannot reconstruct the carrier (cover). In this research, we investigate those problems by taking audio as the carrier. It is done by sampling the audio file before being interpolated to present spaces for accommodating the secret. Meanwhile, the secret is segmented before the embedding. Later, the embedded audio is smoothed according to the required level. The experimental result is obtained by using a public data set containing various audio genres and instruments, and 11 secret sizes, from 1 to 100 kb. It shows that the proposed method outperforms the others. This higher PSNR value means that the proposed method can generate more similar stego data; it also implies that at a certain quality level, the number of bits that can be hidden in the audio cover is higher than that of others.

Highlights

Security has been an essential factor in this cyber age
It is because the internet connection, which initially may be designed without much worrying about bad users, has been suffering from various types of attacks [1, 2]
This is to be the quality of the produced stego audio measured by the Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) that is represented in dB

Summary

Introduction

Security has been an essential factor in this cyber age. It is because the internet connection, which initially may be designed without much worrying about bad users, has been suffering from various types of attacks [1, 2]. Among the security properties that should be protected, confidentiality is often the primary target. Once these confidential data have been compromised, the attacker may disclose them, breaching the users privacy [2,3,4]. It does not mean that other properties like integrity, availability, or non-repudiation are safe from disruption. It is even possible that an attack is launched

Results

Discussion

Conclusion