Abstract

Secure communication is a crucial aspect of modern digital transmission, where ensuring confidentiality, integrity, and efficiency of data storage is paramount. With the growing demand for secure and efficient data transmission techniques, cryptographic methods are being extensively explored to safeguard sensitive information. This paper presents a hybrid approach integrating Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) for lightweight and strong encryption, Secure Hash Algorithm 3 (SHA-3) for message integrity verification, and Huffman compression for optimized storage and bandwidth efficiency. The method involves embedding encrypted secret data within an image through steganographic techniques, ensuring secure transmission over untrusted communication channels. On the receiver's end, the hidden data is extracted, decrypted using ECC, and verified for authenticity using SHA-3. This integrated approach enhances security, minimizes data loss, reduces computational overhead, and provides an efficient mechanism for secure communication in resource-constrained environments. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in terms of encryption strength, retrieval accuracy, and computational efficiency, making it a promising solution for secure data transfer applications.