A ROBUST HYBRID SECURITY FRAMEWORK: INTEGRATING MULTI-LAYERED TEXT ENCRYPTION WITH BARCODE-BASED STEGANOGRAPHY

Authors

• Mohamed Sayed, Joaan Bin Jassim Academy for Defense Studies, QatarFollow
• Talaat M. Wahbi, City University Qatar, Doha, Qatar.Follow
• Farooq Abdalwahab Haboub, Nano Health Suite, Dubai, UAE.Follow

Keywords

Steganography, multilevel steganography, least significant bit, GZIP, peak signal to-noise ratio, Barcode, mean square error

Disciplines

Information Security | Science and Technology Studies

Abstract

The widespread use of the Internet is causing increasing security concerns regarding online communications. One method for achieving secure communication between authorized parties is steganography. We herein employ multilevel technologies, including compression, encryption, barcoding, and steganography to secure a secret text message. Type I multilevel steganography is used with a two-level setup. The first level uses enhanced least significant bit (secure LSB-L1) image steganography; the output is a stego-image file, the cover is an image file, and the secret data in this level is English text. The output from the first level is encrypted using the RSA algorithm, and the encrypted message is compressed using the GZIP function. After that, the message is reformed and ciphered as a barcode. In the second level, the barcoded image is then hidden in another cover image. Thus, the output is a compressed-encrypted-barcoded hidden message, which is sent to the receiver. Experiments were conducted with different sizes of secret messages and different cover images, and a comparative analysis of image quality metrics was performed. The results obtained showed that both imperceptibility and steganographic cost requirements were fulfilled. The results showed good quality, strong security, and fast processing time.

Author ORCID Identifier

Mohamed Sayed : https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1902-9470

Talaat  Wahbi : https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8972-6758

Farooq Abdalwahab Haboub : https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9577-8469

Recommended Citation

Sayed, Mohamed; Wahbi, Talaat M.; and Haboub, Farooq Abdalwahab (2026) "A ROBUST HYBRID SECURITY FRAMEWORK: INTEGRATING MULTI-LAYERED TEXT ENCRYPTION WITH BARCODE-BASED STEGANOGRAPHY," BAU Journal - Science and Technology: Vol. 7: Iss. 2, Article 9.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54729/2959-331X.1181

ISSN

2959-331X