StealthCode: Advanced Military-Grade Communication Tool

📜 Overview

StealthCode is an advanced secure communication tool that merges post-quantum cryptography with adaptive image steganography for ultra-secure, stealthy, and future-proof transmission of sensitive information.
Designed for critical applications like military operations, government communications, and corporate confidentiality, it ensures data confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity against emerging cyber and quantum threats.

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🛡️ Key Features

• 🔐 Authentication & VPN Server
  Secure user authentication and IP management over a private VPN network.

• 📚 Quantum-Resistant Encryption
  Employs Kyber Key Encapsulation Mechanism (KEM) for key exchange and ChaCha20-Poly1305 for robust, authenticated encryption.

• 🖼️ Adaptive Image Steganography
  Sophisticated least-significant-bit (LSB) embedding techniques hide encrypted data into carrier images while preserving visual integrity.

• 🛁 Peer-to-Peer Socket Communication
  Secure, low-latency file transmission of both encrypted keys (key.json) and stego-images over raw sockets after authentication.

• ✅ Integrity Verification
  Ensures complete and unaltered file transmission.

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🔥 How It Works (Data Flow)

1. Authentication Phase (HTTP)

   • User logs into the Authentication Server.
   • Upon success, retrieves list of available receivers and selects one.
   • Receives assigned VPN IP.
   • Public Key registered with Cloud Database.

2. Secure Messaging Phase (Socket Communication)

   • Sender fetches receiver’s Public Key.
   • Message encrypted (ChaCha20), steganographically embedded into an image.
   • key.json (containing transmission key and tag) sent first over socket.
   • Then the encrypted stego-image is transmitted via socket.
   • Receiver extracts hidden data, decrypts message using transmission key.

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🛠️ System Architecture

🔸 Server communications are HTTP-based.
🔸 Sender-to-Receiver communications are raw Socket-based, secured under VPN.

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📚 Technologies Used

Component	Technology Stack
Cryptography	Kyber KEM, ChaCha20-Poly1305
Steganography	Adaptive LSB Substitution
Networking (Direct Transfer)	Python socket
Backend Communication	Python requests, Flask
Database	SQLite3
UI	Tkinter (for simple UI interface)
VPN Setup	WireGuard

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🧰 Project Modules

Module	Description
User Interface Module	User-friendly secure chat and file exchange frontend.
Cryptographic Module	Handles key generation, encryption, and decryption.
Steganography Module	Hides and extracts encrypted data inside images.
Engine Module	Coordinates between cryptography and steganography.
Networking Module	Manages peer-to-peer socket communication.
VPN Networking Module	Connects through a private VPN and communicates with authentication server.
Server Configuration Module	Handles server setup, user management, and VPN IP allocation.

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📊 Algorithms Used

• Kyber Key Encapsulation Mechanism (KEM)
  (Post-Quantum secure key exchange)

• ChaCha20-Poly1305 Cipher
  (Authenticated encryption for messages)

• Adaptive LSB Steganography
  (Resilient data hiding technique inside images)

• HMAC-based Key Derivation Function (HKDF)
  (Securely derives transmission keys)

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🚀 Setup Instructions

Setup and Install liboqs

To install liboqs (the Open Quantum Safe library), follow these steps:

Clone the repository:

git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs

Build liboqs:

cmake -S liboqs -B liboqs/build -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON
cmake --build liboqs/build --parallel 8
cmake --build liboqs/build --target install

Note: On UNIX-like systems, you may need sudo for installation:

sudo cmake --build liboqs/build --target install

4. Set up Environment (if needed)

On UNIX-like platforms (Linux/macOS): You may need to add liboqs's library directory to LD_LIBRARY_PATH (or DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH on macOS):

    export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/usr/local/lib

On Windows: Add liboqs to your system’s PATH:

    set PATH=%PATH%;C:\Program Files (x86)\liboqs\bin

Alternatively, you can configure liboqs to be installed in a custom directory:

    cmake -S liboqs -B liboqs/build -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/path/to/liboqs -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON

Install and activate a Python virtual environment

Execute in a Terminal/Console/Administrator Command Prompt

python3 -m venv venv
. venv/bin/activate
python3 -m ensurepip --upgrade

On Windows, replace the line

. venv/bin/activate

by

venv\Scripts\activate.bat

Configure and install the wrapper

Execute in a Terminal/Console/Administrator Command Prompt

git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs-python
cd liboqs-python
pip install .

Clone the Repository

First, clone the repository for your stealth code and navigate into the directory:

git clone https://github.com/abhipnair/StealthCode.git
cd StealthCode

Server Configuration

Edit user data for the server: Edit the user_data.json file to add or remove users for your server configuration.

Run Server Setup: To configure the server:

cd Server Configurations
sudo python3 server_config.py

Start Server Listing: To start the server (use sudo if necessary):

sudo python3 stealthCodeServer.py

Uninstall the Server: To uninstall the server, use the provided uninstall.sh script:

bash uninstall.sh

User Configuration

For users running the system: Go into the virtual environment where liboqs is installed.

For starting the software execute

python3 login.py

Note: Ensure that you are currently using the venv created and at StealthCode directory.

For more information on Open Quantum Safe and to view the official GitHub repositories, you can visit:

Open Quantum Safe GitHub: https://github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs-python/

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🔮 Future Enhancements

• Add more Post-Quantum cryptographic schemes (ex: NTRU, Saber).
• Expand carrier support to audio and video files.
• Implement cross-platform mobile compatibility.
• Use AI-powered steganalysis defense against detection tools.

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📜 Conclusion

StealthCode offers an innovative, quantum-resilient, and covert communication platform optimized for future military, governmental, and critical applications. Its robust design combines encryption, steganography, and efficient networking into a modular, secure communication system.

✍️ Authors

• Made with ❤️ and countless cups of coffee by @abhipnair
• Special thanks to Anjali Suresh for the amazing support and seamless coordination 🚀

📜 License

This project is licensed under a modified MIT License:

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MIT License (Modified)

Copyright (c) 2025 Abhipnair

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, subject to the following conditions:

1. Author Attribution:
   All copies, forks, or substantial uses of the Software must retain clear acknowledgment of the original author: @abhipnair.

2. Prohibited Activities:
   The Software must not be used for any unlawful, illegal, or unethical activities, including but not limited to unauthorized access, cyber attacks, or any activities violating local or international law.

3. Acceptance of Terms:
   By cloning, forking, copying, or using this Software in any form, you automatically agree to abide by these rules and regulations.

4. Disclaimer:
   THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

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📖 References

• [1] Utkarsh Choudhary, Parul Agarwal – Image Steganography Combined with Cryptography.
• [2] Roy, Islam – Hybrid Secured LSB & AES.
• [3] Yang, Sun – Adaptive LSB Substitution for Image Data Hiding.
• [4] Cheddad et al. – Survey of Image Steganography Methods.
• [5] Altigani, Hasan – Polymorphic Advanced Encryption Standard for Data Security.

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