A double steganography model combining blockchain and interplanetary file system

The secret information may be compromised for the lack of security and concealment in conventional covert communication. Blockchain is a suitable platform for establishing covert channels to protect the secret information, due to its features of anti-tamper, anti-forgery, anonymity, and information synchronization. However, the cost of storing large files in the blockchain is too high. To solve the above problems, we propose a double steganography model which combines blockchain and interplanetary file system (IPFS) in this paper. The model consists of two parts: image steganography and plain text steganography. In image steganography, the model embeds secret information into the original image using the least significant bit (LSB) algorithm based on RSA encryption. Then the image is stored in IPFS that returns the hash value. In plain text steganography, the model embeds the hash value into plain text files by the whitespace method based on partial order. Then those files are transmitted through blockchain network covert channels. Any node can obtain the files as the receiver. But only the trusted party can extract the secret information through the inverse process of embedding. Experimental results show that the proposed model has high performance of anti-detection and guarantees the concealment of communication.

Automated summary

The paper proposed a double steganography model that combines blockchain and IPFS to protect secret information through embedding in images and plain text, creating covert channels in the blockchain network. Experimental results show that the model has high performance in anti-detection and ensures communication concealment.