Modified Chaotic Hénon Map-Based Text Information Encryption and Hiding Mechanism Using Bottlenose Dolphin...

Area of Science:

• Acoustic Communications
• Signal Processing
• Cryptography

Background:

• Growing ocean resource development necessitates secure underwater communication methods.
• Bionic covert underwater acoustic communication (CUAC) is vital for military and telemetry applications.
• Existing methods lack sufficient security and undetectability for sensitive underwater data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design a highly secure and undetectable text information (TI) encryption mechanism for CUAC.
• To utilize real bottlenose dolphin vocalizations (BDVs) as a carrier for encrypted data.
• To develop a modified chaotic Hénon map (MCHM)-based TI encryption and hiding (EH) mechanism.

Main Methods:

• Integration of a chaotic encryption scheme, spread spectrum (SS) technology, and a modified chaotic Hénon map (MCHM).
• Implementation of a TI encryption and hiding (EH) mechanism (MCHMTIEHM).
• Evaluation using four BDVs and four test TIs, employing modified ACC and UACI metrics, and analyzing NCSSBRs, NCBRs, and NCCRs.

Main Results:

• The MCHMTIEHM demonstrated accurate de-hiding and decryption, with complete TI recovery when correct parameters were used.
• When parameters were incorrect, the mechanism provided superior correct de-hiding and error decryption, rendering TI unrecoverable and unrecognizable.
• High hiding performance was confirmed by average modified ACC of 0.99995924 and average UACI of 3.84×10⁻⁶. Error-free decryption achieved 0% NCSSBRs, NCBRs, and NCCRs.

Conclusions:

• The proposed MCHMTIEHM offers superior encryption and hiding performance for covert underwater acoustic communication.
• The use of BDVs combined with MCHM provides a secure and effective method for underwater data transmission.
• The mechanism ensures data confidentiality and integrity, crucial for military and telemetry applications.