With the rise of quantum computing and the limitations of traditional encryption methods, ensuring secure data transmission in IoT frameworks has become increasingly critical. This work presents a quantum-enhanced hybrid communication system that integrates adaptive audio techniques with quantum image processing. The proposed system operates in three main stages: first, text data is converted into binary format and encoded into quantum circuits using Qiskit; second, the quantum-encoded data is embedded into audio signals using an adaptive Least Significant Bit (LSB) technique; finally, the stego-audio’s robustness is evaluated under simulated IoT network conditions. Unlike conventional approaches, this method offers dual-layer security by combining dynamic audio embedding with quantum-based image representation, making it resistant to both quantum attacks and signal degradation. Experimental results demonstrate strong performance, with a Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) ranging from 45 to 50 dB, a Bit Error Rate (BER) below 2%, and entropy values exceeding 7.5. These outcomes indicate the system’s effectiveness for secure, quantum-resilient communication in IoT environments with bandwidth and security constraints.
With the rise of quantum computing and the limitations of traditional encryption methods, ensuring secure data transmission in IoT frameworks has become increasingly critical. This work presents a quantum-enhanced hybrid communication system that integrates adaptive audio techniques with quantum image processing. The proposed system operates in three main stages: first, text data is converted into binary format and encoded into quantum circuits using Qiskit; second, the quantum-encoded data is embedded into audio signals using an adaptive Least Significant Bit (LSB) technique; finally, the stego-audio’s robustness is evaluated under simulated IoT network conditions. Unlike conventional approaches, this method offers dual-layer security by combining dynamic audio embedding with quantum-based image representation, making it resistant to both quantum attacks and signal degradation. Experimental results demonstrate strong performance, with a Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) ranging from 45 to 50 dB, a Bit Error Rate (BER) below 2%, and entropy values exceeding 7.5. These outcomes indicate the system’s effectiveness for secure, quantum-resilient communication in IoT environments with bandwidth and security constraints.
In response to rising cyber threats and the limitations of traditional security, this project proposes a hybrid framework combining quantum cryptography and text-based steganography for secure and concealed communication. Using the BB84 Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) protocol, a secure quantum key is established and extended with SHA-256 to encrypt a secret message via XOR operations. The encrypted data is embedded into a cover text using three steganographic techniques: case-based, zero-width, and color-based methods, the latter including double-color and double-color overlay variants. The techniques are evaluated on embedding efficiency, payload capacity, entropy, and deviation percentage. Among them, double-layer color-based steganography demonstrates superior performance, achieving up to 6 bits/symbol and 95% efficiency, with minimal error and high integrity. The system is implemented using Qiskit and HTML rendering, validating its practical feasibility. This dual-layer security model ensures confidentiality and invisibility, offering a robust, quantum-enhanced approach to secure communication in sensitive applications.
In recent times, secure data transmission become crucial requirement because of increasing growth of threats and emergence of quantum computing technologies. However, existing Quantum Key Distribution-Advanced Encryption Standard-Least Significant Bit (QKD-AES-LSB) struggled with two main limitations such as restricted resistance to future quantum attacks because of dependence on classical encryption and vulnerability of static LSB steganography for improved Machine Learning (ML) approaches. To address these challenges, Quantum Key Distribution-Post-Quantum Cryptography-Adaptive Steganographic Encryption framework (QKD-PQC-ASE) is proposed. Primarily, secret data and cover images are gathered then quantum key is generated using E91 protocol. Next, post-quantum cryptographic key encapsulation is applied to strengthened the generated kay and ensure long-term quantum resistance. Further, secret data is encrypted employing quantum-resilient encryption mechanism and combined using cryptographic hashing. Furthermore, encrypted data is embedded in to cover image through quantum-randomness-guided adaptive steganography for resisting improved steganalysis attacks. Finally, proposed QKD-PQC-ASE framework obtains improved resistance against future quantum attacks and enhanced steganalysis by maintaining low computational overhead. Therefore, proposed QKD-PQC-ASE framework achieved greater results in terms of NPCR of 99.84 % and a UACI of57.92%which demonstrates efficiency of framework for secure and future-ready data encryption in quantum-aware communication environments.
The emergence of quantum computing poses a significant security threat to the current classical cryptography system since it has the potential to outperform the current classical computer in some specific tasks due to its unique principle of operation. This necessitates finding a method that is resistant to quantum computers to securely transfer information. This research addresses these challenges by proposing a novel method combining quantum key distribution (QKD), specifically the E91 protocol, with the classical encryption-authentication protocol ChaCha20-Poly1305, and concealing information within another message through steganography to securely transfer audio messages. A shared secret key is created between the communicating parties using E91 QKD, which exploits the stellar protection of quantum entanglement against eavesdropping. The shared key is hashed through the SHA–3 hash function to generate a fixed-length, high-entropy symmetric key. The audio message is hidden inside another audio signal through steganography. The steganographic signal is encrypted using ChaCha20-Poly1305 AEAD in order to provide another layer of obfuscation as well as a means to verify integrity. Through rigorous experiments, we validated the robustness of the proposed methodology in both classical and quantum attacks. The processing of secret audio signals of varying duration (00:01:32 to 00:01:36) exhibits consistent encryption results. The encrypted stego audios show high randomness, with an average entropy of 15.9984, an average correlation of 1 . 4627 × 1 0 − 5 , an average UACI of 49.9977%, and an average NSCR of 99.9985%. We demonstrated the safety of the shared key using the CHSH inequality test, where in the presence of an eavesdropper, the CHSH value is much less than 2 2 . In addition, the integrity of the secret audio is also validated through the verification of the authenticator tag generated during the encryption process. Our research offers a novel framework for secure audio transmission, combining classical encryption and authentication methods with QKD to enhance confidentiality, integrity, and resilience against eavesdropping and tampering, ensuring robust end-to-end security.
In the realm of cybersecurity, the demand for robust encryption and secure data hiding techniques has intensified with the proliferation of digital communication and sensitive information exchange. This paper explores integration of QC advancements for enhancing the security of two critical cryptographic applications: Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption and Least Significant Bit (LSB) image steganography. Quantum computing introduces the concept of qubits, which harness quantum mechanical phenomena to perform computations that classical computers struggle to achieve efficiently. By leveraging qubits, AES encryption can potentially benefit from enhanced key generation and encryption processes, thereby strengthening data confidentiality against conventional and future quantum attacks. Additionally, this paper investigates the application of quantum-inspired techniques to optimize the LSB method in image steganography. LSB embedding involves hiding data within LSB of image pixels, technique vulnerable to statistical attacks. Quantum-inspired approaches aim to mitigate these vulnerabilities by improving embedding efficiency and robustness without compromising image quality. Through theoretical analysis and simulation studies, this research evaluates the feasibility and potential benefits of integrating quantum computing into AES encryption and LSB steganography. The findings underscore the promise of quantum-enhanced methods in fortifying data security across digital platforms, laying the groundwork for future advancements in quantum cryptography and information hiding techniques.
Classical cryptography methods are becoming susceptible to quantum attacks like those implemented by Shor and Grover algorithms and can break RSA and symmetric-key encryption. Traditional communication channels are also susceptible to interception and even modification of the signal that causes data confidentiality to be compromised. In order to overcome these limitations, this paper proposes a three-layer quantum-hybrid communication framework, which integrates entanglement-based QKD, multi-channel redundancy, and steganographic hiding. The framework improves the security with an entanglement-assisted BB84-based protocol, the reliability with the help of multi-channel qubit transmission, and covert transmission with LSB/DCT-image embedding. The framework is developed and implemented as a simulator in Python using Qiskit, NumPy, and OpenCV and showed better Bit Error Rate (BER), SSIM, fidelity and security strength than classical systems. The proposed architecture mitigates key vulnerabilities in cryptographic strength, transmission stability, and communication detectability, providing a robust foundation for quantum-resilient and covert communication.
Abstract This paper introduces two novel quantum audio steganography methods that incorporate the logical properties of entangled qubits into the least significant qubit steganography (LSQb) approach. The first method, called entanglement-assisted probability adjustment LSB (EP-LSQb), optimizes the superposition probability of the lowest qubits before embedding the information. This addresses the ‘value-pairing’ problem and improves anti-statistical analysis performance and embedding efficiency. The second method, called quantum phase direct embedding LSB (PD-LSQb), extends traditional LSB steganography by directly embedding the secret speech into the least significant qubit. Quantum circuits are constructed for both methods to demonstrate their feasibility. Theoretical analysis and simulation experiments show that these methods exhibit good imperceptibility (PSNR>50) and embedding efficiency. Particularly, EP-LSQb method enhances the theoretical limit of embedding efficiency when compared to its corresponding classical counterparts. Additionally, due to the inclusion of entangled qubit particles, our methods offer competitive content security and noise robustness, distinguishing them from classical LSB or general LSQb methods and highlighting the unique advantages of quantum approaches.