Stego-Encoding with Error Correction Capability

Although a proposed steganographic encoding scheme can reduce distortion caused by data hiding, it makes the system susceptible to active-warden attacks due to error spreading. Meanwhile, straightforward application of error correction encoding inevitably increases the required amount of bit alterations so that the risk of being detected will increase. To overcome the drawback in both cases, an integrated approach is introduced that combines the stego-encoding and error correction encoding to provide enhanced robustness against active attacks and channel noise while keeping good imperceptibility.