Dual-Layer Steganography: A Deception-based Web Tool for Secure Multi-Message Embedding, Decoy Deployment, and Retrieval
Guru Prasad Reddy K, Mohib Rasool, Abiraami T. V · 2025
Steganography plays a critical role in the field of secure communication since it actually conceals a message within digital media. Traditional methods usually hide one message within one carrier file, which poses no real security problem and enables potential intruders to easily detect the message. This paper aims to introduce a Dual-Layer Steganography technique that allows the embedding of two different messages within a single carrier file, which can be retrieved by two different user inputs. The Dual-Layer Steganography approach improves security through the use of AES, SHA-256 hashing, Base64 encoding before message embedding and by providing a decoy message to the unauthorized users while the actual secret message is actually hidden. Those who try to access the hidden message with the normal password and CAPTCHA will get the decoy message. However, the legitimate users who enter the secret password, and the CAPTCHA in the reverse order can retrieve the actual message that is concealed. This multi-layer security concept provides a high level of protection against brute force attacks, unauthorized data extraction and automated decryption efforts. The proposed technique provides an extra level of security by using SHA-256 for password hashing, AES for message confidentiality and Base64 for data integrity. The implementation is presented as a web-based tool, which adds an extra level of deception that makes the tool more difficult to be broken by steganalysis. This new way of thinking has many practical implications in secret communication, secure data transfer, and digital forensics, as well as in preventing access and detection by unauthorized parties.