A SECURE DUAL LAYER INFORMATION HIDING FRAME WORK UTILIZING HYBRID CRYPTOGRAPHY AND LEAST SIGINIFICANT BIT STEGANOGRAPHY

Abstract

The rapid expansion of cloud computing, digital communication, and distributed storage systems has significantly increased the need for secure data protection during storage and transmission. Although conventional cryptographic techniques provide confidentiality, encrypted files remain identifiable and are therefore susceptible to cryptanalysis and unauthorized attacks. To overcome these limitations, this research proposes A Secure Dual Layer Information Hiding Framework Utilizing Hybrid Cryptography and Least Significant Bit (LSB) Steganography. The proposed framework integrates Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) to establish a hybrid encryption mechanism that ensures both efficient data encryption and secure key management. AES is employed for high-speed encryption of confidential files, while ECC securely encrypts the AES secret key, reducing key distribution vulnerabilities. To provide an additional layer of security, the encrypted data is embedded into digital images using the Least Significant Bit (LSB) steganography technique, effectively concealing the existence of sensitive information. Furthermore, SHA-256 hashing is incorporated to verify data integrity and detect unauthorized modifications, while One-Time Password (OTP)-based Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) ensures that only authenticated users can access encryption and decryption services. The framework is implemented as a secure web-based application using Python, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and MySQL, providing functionalities including secure file upload, encryption, steganographic embedding, hidden data extraction, decryption, integrity verification, and authenticated user access. Experimental evaluation demonstrates that the proposed system successfully achieves secure data encryption, covert communication, integrity preservation, and efficient retrieval while maintaining minimal computational overhead. The integration of hybrid cryptography with LSB steganography offers a robust and scalable solution for protecting sensitive information against modern cybersecurity threats, making it suitable for secure cloud storage, confidential communication, and digital document protection.