NBS: An NFT-Based Blockchain Steganography Method

NBS: An NFT-Based Blockchain Steganography Method

연구 분야: Strategies

학회: International Conference on Computing, Intelligence and Data Analytics

Steganography is the name given to the science of hiding information that has been studied throughout history. With the digitalization of information, traditional physical steganography techniques have been replaced by digital steganography. After the success of the Bitcoin payment system, the potential of blockchain technology, which is the creative technology behind Bitcoin, has been better understood, and it has started to be tried in the field of steganography. In the study, a secured blockchain image-steganography method, which is difficult to detect with steganalysis methods, is proposed. Solana blockchain platform was chosen for the demonstration of the proposed method. In the study, a stego-image was produced from a selected cover-image to hide data by applying the LSB steganography technique, and this stego-image was minted as a Stego-NFT using the Solana platform. The data to be hidden is encrypted with the OTP encryption algorithm. After the transfer of the minted Stego-NFT to the recipient’s wallet, the confidential data transmission process is completed with the extraction of the hidden data and then the burning of the transferred NFT. Thanks to the NFT-based image-steganography (NBS) method proposed in the study, the stego-image is only exposed to a stego-only attack during the period between minting and burning. In other words, since only the stego-object is accessible for steganalysis and the stego-NFT is unique, it cannot be detected by steganalysis techniques such as PSNR and histogram analysis. Finally, with these features, the proposed NBS method is one of the first academic studies in this field in the literature.