Metadata-Based Video Steganography: Development of a New Model for Secure Information Embedding

Authors

  • Dedi Darwis Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, Universitas Teknokrat Indonesia, Indonesia
  • Yusra Fernando Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, Universitas Teknokrat Indonesia, Indonesia
  • Abhishek R. Mehta Faculty of IT and Computer Science, Parul University, India
  • Wamiliana Department of Mathematics, Universitas Lampung, Indonesia
  • Setiawansyah Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, Universitas Teknokrat Indonesia, Indonesia
Volume: 15 | Issue: 5 | Pages: 27076-27088 | October 2025 | https://doi.org/10.48084/etasr.11937

Received: 5 May 2025 | Revised: 3 July 2025 and 10 July 2025 | Accepted: 13 July 2025 | Online: 6 October 2025


Corresponding author: Dedi Darwis

Abstract

This study introduces a novel video steganography model called Video Steganography Technique in Metadata (VSTM), which embeds secret messages within the metadata of MP4 video files. By utilizing the 'comments' field in the metadata, the method ensures that the visual and audio quality of the video remains unaffected. This model offers original contributions in maintaining the integrity and resilience of digital data against common manipulations, such as cropping, rotation, and social media compression. The VSTM model combines the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) for encryption and ZLIB for data compression, enhancing the security and optimizing the data size. The tests demonstrate that the VSTM model maintains perfect video fidelity with no detectable pixel changes and achieves a high level of robustness against various manipulations, including video cropping, rotation, resizing, and sharing through most social media platforms. The test results showed that the VSTM was able to maintain the integrity of the video files, had resistance to visible detection, and was effectively used for small-scale confidential communications. This model offers a practical and secure solution in the field of digital steganography, and has the potential to be applied to a wide range of data protection needs in sensitive digital environments. However, metadata stripping by certain platforms, such as Instagram, affects the message retrieval. The method proves effective and reliable in securing digital information within the video files while preserving quality and ensuring the message integrity.

Keywords:

Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), MP4, video steganography, Video Steganography Technique in Metadata (VSTM), ZLIB

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How to Cite

[1]
D. Darwis, Y. Fernando, A. R. Mehta, . Wamiliana, and . Setiawansyah, “Metadata-Based Video Steganography: Development of a New Model for Secure Information Embedding”, Eng. Technol. Appl. Sci. Res., vol. 15, no. 5, pp. 27076–27088, Oct. 2025.

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