Adaptive steganography based on motion vectors for H.264/AVC

Abstract

In our current era, sending and receiving data securely is a significant challenge. Through data transmission, we must ensure that the data reaches the intended recipients without being compromised by hackers or unauthorized ones. Steganography is one of the best techniques for hiding data within other media without raising suspicion. The goal is to transmit data embedded covertly, making it undetectable to unauthorized. The H.264 Video compression technique provides high-quality video at low bit rates for streaming, recording, and online distribution. This research paper presents a method for hiding data within a cover media (video) using the H.264 technique, which means video steganography. The hiding is done using motion estimation in the encoder of H.264, where the bits are embedded in the motion vectors within the P and B frames for the IBBP sequence format. The hidden data is retrieved and extracted by the H.264 decoder by motion compensation in the receiver. These operations were done using MATLAB and both the secret text and the original cover media were successfully retrieved with an SNR of >34 dB.