Enhancing Data Security and Efficiency: A Hybrid Cryptography Approach (AES + ECC) Integrated with Steganography and Compression Algortihm

The paper presents a novel approach for enhancing data security and efficiency using a hybrid cryptography model that is Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) with steganography and compression techniques to conceal the encrypted data within image file, also compression technique applied to reduce storage usage. The system employs AES for secure data encryption due to its fast encryption time and reliability, while ECC is utilized for encrypting AES keys, benefiting from ECC's lower computational demands and smaller key sizes, which offer secure key exchange. Further to mask the encrypted data, steganography is implemented with inverted least significant bit (LSB) technique. Additionally, the model incorporates the WebP compression algorithm to reduce the overall data size, to facilitate data transmission efficiently without losing data integrity or security. Experimental results of research indicate that the system not only secures data effectively but also preserves the visual quality of digital carrier images. The steganalysis shows the performance of the proposed system performed is quantified by a Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) of 68.90 and a Mean Squared Error (MSE) OF 0.0083, reflecting minimal and acceptable degradation in image quality. These metrics show the system's capability to maintain excellent image fidelity post encryption and embedding, confirming its reliability for secure communication applications where maintaining data integrity and efficiency is crucial.