Open Access

ARTICLE

IDCE: Integrated Data Compression and Encryption for Enhanced Security and Efficiency

Muhammad Usama¹, Arshad Aziz², Suliman A. Alsuhibany^3,*, Imtiaz Hassan², Farrukh Yuldashev⁴

1 Department of Cyber Security, Pakistan Navy Engineering College, National University of Sciences and Technology, Karachi, 75350, Pakistan
2 Department of Computer Science, Main Campus, Iqra University, Karachi, 75500, Pakistan
3 Department of Computer Science, College of Computer, Qassim University, Buraydah, 51452, Saudi Arabia
4 Department of Informatics and Its Teaching Methods, Tashkent State Pedagogical University, Tashkent, 100170, Uzbekistan

* Corresponding Author: Suliman A. Alsuhibany. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Emerging Technologies in Information Security )

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2025, 143(1), 1029-1048. https://doi.org/10.32604/cmes.2025.061787

Received 03 December 2024; Accepted 03 March 2025; Issue published 11 April 2025

Abstract

Data compression plays a vital role in data management and information theory by reducing redundancy. However, it lacks built-in security features such as secret keys or password-based access control, leaving sensitive data vulnerable to unauthorized access and misuse. With the exponential growth of digital data, robust security measures are essential. Data encryption, a widely used approach, ensures data confidentiality by making it unreadable and unalterable through secret key control. Despite their individual benefits, both require significant computational resources. Additionally, performing them separately for the same data increases complexity and processing time. Recognizing the need for integrated approaches that balance compression ratios and security levels, this research proposes an integrated data compression and encryption algorithm, named IDCE, for enhanced security and efficiency. The algorithm operates on 128-bit block sizes and a 256-bit secret key length. It combines Huffman coding for compression and a Tent map for encryption. Additionally, an iterative Arnold cat map further enhances cryptographic confusion properties. Experimental analysis validates the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, showcasing competitive performance in terms of compression ratio, security, and overall efficiency when compared to prior algorithms in the field.

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Keywords

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