Enhancing Military Communication Security Using Hybrid Cryptography and Steganography

Abstract

The increasing threat of military communication interception emphasises the critical need for secure data transmission methods to safeguard highly sensitive information. This research investigates ways to enhance communication security in Sri Lanka’s military by employing a hybrid system that integrates Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), Rivest Shamir Adleman (RSA), and Least Significant Bit (LSB) steganography. The aim of this study is to devise, implement, and evaluate a hybrid cryptographic system that utilises AES-256 for encryption, RSA-2048 for key exchange, and LSB steganography, focusing on improving the security and operational efficiency of military communications. The system was developed with the NetBeans Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and Java Cryptography Architecture (JCA), using AES-256 for symmetric encryption, RSA-2048 for managing asymmetric keys, and LSB steganography to embed the encrypted data in digital images. A performance evaluation was conducted to measure the execution times of encryption, decryption, and steganography processes, as well as the precision of data extraction, and the system's resilience against potential security threats. The results indicated that AES encryption provided fast and efficient data protection, RSA managed secure key exchanges efficiently, and LSB steganography successfully concealed the encrypted information in images without causing noticeable visual differences. These findings confirm that the system offers a robust and secure approach to military communications, although the encoding time for steganography increased with larger image sizes. A proof of concept was developed to demonstrate and assess the proposed solution, incorporating only the vital elements needed to effectively showcase each phase of the secure communication process. This study enhances the current understanding by illustrating how hybrid cryptography and steganography can work together to meet the specific security requirements of military communications. This paper presents a feasible solution to reduce interception risks and has important implications for secure communication systems in the military sectors.