Securing data using elliptic curve cryptography and least significant bit steganography

In the field of computer networks, cryptography and steganography are the well-known features of security. Both the techniques, if in isolation, have feebleness. So, providing acceptable level of security is essential for data transmission. Also it should reduce the time complexity of the security algorithm. This paper proposes an amalgamated algorithm that employs 'Elliptic Curve encryption' scheme to encrypt data and a 'Least Significant Bit' Steganography algorithm to insert the data in a gray scale image. Then the image is compressed before sending through the internet. Python is used to implement the proposed hybrid algorithm and MATLAB is used to simulate results which show that it has good embedding capacity and security with a little decrease in PSNR value. © 2017 IEEE.