Proposal / Application for ICT-Related Development and Research Grant

<Steganography using LSB> <Nousheen Akhtar>

Read carefully before filling the form.

1.
2. 3. 4.

Please do not alter the layout of the application form. Information must be filled in the spaces provided, under set format. Guidance notes in various fields should not be deleted. Required information should be duly filled in the specified fields. Required heads/fields which are not relevant to the project should be marked N/A (Not Applicable) or left blank and should not be deleted.

5.

Specifications, justifications, purposes must be provided against each item in the Budget file. Please do not change the formulas in the budget sheets. We have prepared financial guidelines to evaluate the remuneration for human resource associated with the proposed project. The guidelines are available on our website (click application forms>Financial Guidelines for Preparation of R&D and HRD Proposals>.

6.

7.

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List of Abbreviations and Acronyms

EE ICT IPR CPI PI PIO External Evaluators Information and Communication Technologies Intellectual Property Rights Co-Principal Investigator Principal Investigator Principal Investigators Organization "Principal Investigators Organization" means the person, company, partnership, undertaking, concern, association of persons, body of individuals, consortium or joint venture which receives funding from the Company to execute a research and development project. Research and Development

R&D

List of Abbreviations and Acronyms Used by PI in the Proposal

(Please add abbreviations and acronyms in the table below, if any.)

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Application for ICT-Related Development and Research Grant Guidelines and Forms
Introduction National ICT R&D Fund was created in January 2007 by Ministry of IT with the vision to transform Pakistan's economy into a knowledge-based economy by promoting efficient, sustainable, and effective ICT (IT and Telecommunications) initiatives through synergic development of industrial and academic resources. Collaborative efforts between academia, research institutions, and industry are greatly encouraged to ensure that local economy can reap the monetary benefits of investment in research. This organization has significant funds available for proposals that are geared towards creating ICT related technologies. Research grants will be awarded for high-level and promising ICT-related development and research projects by individuals or groups from academia and/or industry actively involved in the research and development individually or collaboratively. These projects should be based on either a universally known technology or a new technology developed by the applicant and should be aimed at achieving economically viable systems, products, or processes beneficial to the nation. The grant will cover the honoraria of the principal investigator and co- principal investigators, salaries of professional researchers and developers at market rate, stipends for student research assistants, and supporting staff. It will also cover travel(s) within and outside the country for project-related activities and for scientific conferences where project teams research paper, an outcome of the project, has been selected for presentation. The grant may be used to purchase very specific unavoidable equipment kept to the bare minimum, consumable materials, and other items needed for the project. Submission Procedure Duly filled application forms complete in all respects along with any documents should be submitted online through Funds website www.ictrdf.org.pk. A hard copy should also be submitted by registered post or by fax at our mailing address given below. On receipt of the applications the proposals will be evaluated internally as well as externally as laid down in our policy documents. The PI may need to revise the proposal in light of the evaluators recommendations. There is no deadline for submission of the application forms for Unsolicited Projects. The deadline for Solicited Projects will be given in the RFPs whenever floated. Joint Funding The project proposal may be jointly funded by ICT R&D Fund and other funding agencies/industry. The efforts to obtain joint funding will be at the discretion of the Principal Investigator Organization (PIO) to which Principal Investigator belongs. However any such information must be provided to ICT R&D Fund. The funds released will be provided to the PI.

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Agreement A written agreement will be made between National ICT R&D Fund and PI. The PI will undertake to administer the grant according to the agreement and to provide laboratory space, and other facilities necessary for the project. The equipment purchased with ICT R&D Fund for the approved project will remain the property of ICT R&D Fund. The laptops will be returned to ICT R&D Fund after completion of the project. The grantee is required to submit a final narrative and financial report within one month of the completion of the project. The IPR issues will be sorted according to the policy in vogue. For further information, please contact: Solicitation and Evaluation Department, National ICT R&D Fund, 6th Floor, HBL Towers, Jinnah Avenue, Blue Area, Islamabad Tel.: (+92-51) 921 5360 - 65 Fax: (+92-51) 921 5366 Website: www.ictrdf.org.pk

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Table of Contents
Description Page #

1. Project Identification........................................................................................................................1 A.Reference Number: ......................................................................................................................1 B.Project Title: .................................................................................................................................1 C.Principal Investigator (PI): ...........................................................................................................1 D.Principal Investigators Organization (PIO): ..............................................................................2 E.Other Organizations Involved in the Project: ..............................................................................2 F.Key Words: ...................................................................................................................................3 G.Research and Development Theme: ............................................................................................3 H.Project Status: ..............................................................................................................................3 I.Project Duration: ...........................................................................................................................3 J.Executive Summary: .....................................................................................................................3 2. Scope, Introduction and Background of the Project.......................................................................4 A.Scope of the Project: ....................................................................................................................4 B.Introduction: .................................................................................................................................4 B1. Literature Review: .................................................................................................................4 B2. Current State of the Art: ........................................................................................................5 C.Challenges: ...................................................................................................................................5 D.Motivation and Need: ..................................................................................................................5 3. Objectives of the Project..................................................................................................................6 A.Specific Objectives Being Addressed by the Project:..................................................................6 4. Research Approach...........................................................................................................................7 A.Development / Research Methodology:.......................................................................................7 B.Project Team: ..............................................................................................................................7 C.Team Structure:.............................................................................................................................7 D.Project Activities: ........................................................................................................................8 E.Key Milestones and Deliverables: ...............................................................................................8 5. Benefits of the Project......................................................................................................................9 A.Direct Customers / Beneficiaries of the Project: .........................................................................9 B.Outputs Expected from the Project:..............................................................................................9 C.Organizational / HRD Outcomes Expected:.................................................................................9 D.Technology Transfer / Diffusion Approach: ...............................................................................9 6. Risk Analysis....................................................................................................................................9 A.Risks of the Project: .....................................................................................................................9 A1. Comments:...............................................................................................................................9 7. Contractual Matters........................................................................................................................10 A.Contractual Obligations under this Project: ..............................................................................10 B.Ownership of Intellectual Property Rights: ...............................................................................10 C.Competent Authority of the Principal Investigators Organization:..........................................10 8. Project Schedule / Milestone Chart ...............................................................................................11 9. Proposed Budget ............................................................................................................................12 Annexure A Curriculum Vitae........................................................................................................13 Annexure A Curriculum Vitae........................................................................................................14 Bibliography.......................................................................................................................................16

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Note:

To update the table of contents, right click in the table and select update field and then select Update Entire Table.

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Application for ICT-Related Development and Research Grant

1. Project Identification
A. Reference Number: (for office use only) B. Project Title: < Steganography using LSB > C. Principal Investigator (PI): Name: Designation: Organization: Mobile # : Email:
(A letter from the competent authority regarding PIs time commitment for the proposed research project must be provided.)

Brig Dr. Younas Javed Dean and H.O.D of E&ME college E&ME college Nust Rawalpindi 03218556620 Tel. # :

C1. Co-Principal Investigator (CPI): Name: Designation: Organization: Mobile # : Email: Mis Bushra Sikandar Hayat Lecturer Fatima Jinnah Women university rawalpindi +923335599656 Tel. # :

bushra.sikander@fjwu.edu.pk

C2. Contact Person: (If different from PI.) Name: Designation: Organization: Mobile # : Email: Tel. # :

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D.

Principal Investigators Organization (PIO):

(Please indicate the name, address, telephone and fax of the Principal Investigators Organization. The Principal Investigator should belong to this organization.)

Name: Address: Registration #: National Tax #: Tel. # : Website: Fax # :

(Please attach certified copy) (Please attach certified copy)

E.

Other Organizations Involved in the Project:

(Please identify all affiliated organizations collaborating in the project, and describe their role/contribution to the project.)

E1. # 1. 2. E2. # 1. 2. E3. # 1. 2. E4. # 1 . 2 .

Industrial Organizations: Organization Name Role / Contribution

Academic Organizations: Organization Name Fatima Jinnah Women University Rawalpindi Role / Contribution

Funding Organizations: Organization Name Role / Contribution

Other Organizations: Organization Name Role / Contribution

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F.

Key Words:
(Please provide a maximum of 5 key words that describe the project. The key words will be incorporated in our database.)

<Steganography, LSB, stego image , cover image> G. Research and Development Theme:
(If the proposal belongs to a theme specified by NICT R&D Fund, please identify the Research Theme.)

<Design and development of innovative services and management systems for next generation telecom networks> H. Project Status:
(Please mark )

New

Modification to previous Project

Extension of existing project H1. Project URL:
(The project URL should be provided. This URL should be hosted by the project executing agency. Sufficient details such as executive summary, objectives are expected on the website. Once the proposal is approved, the website should also provide final copy of the proposal and deliverables/progress.)

<http://connekt.seecs.nust.edu.pk/SAHSE.php> I. Project Duration: Expected Starting Date: Planned Duration in months: J. Executive Summary: <The Internet as a whole does not use secure links, thus information in transit may be vulnerable to interception as well. The important of reducing a chance of the information being detected during the transmission is being an issue now days. Some solution to be discussed is how to passing information in a manner that the very existence of the message is unknown in order to repel attention of the potential attacker. Besides hiding data for confidentiality, this approach of information hiding can be extended to copyright protection for digital media. The technique used in implementing Steganography is Least Significant Bit (LSB) technique in hiding messages in an image. Research point of the project is The system enhanced the LSB technique by randomly dispersing the bits of the message in the image and thus making it harder for unauthorized people to extract the original message. > March 2012 5 to 6 months

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2. Scope, Introduction and Background of the Project

A. Scope of the Project:

< A contribution to hiding information in an image using new technique like

LSB rather exactly watermarking

>

To avoid crime of hacking information. To keep secret information away from terrorists. For copy right protection of multimedia information. For the protection of online crimes.

B.

Introduction:

I would like to propose my thesis on a topic that deals with Least Significant Bit technique to solve Steganalysis problem. Steganalysis, the pursuit of analyzing data files that may contain secret messages in the image, has similar applications as well as domestic applications for online crime. The risk of copyright violation of multimedia data has increased due to the enormous growth of computer networks that provides fast and error free transmission of any unauthorized duplicate and possibly manipulated copy of multimedia information. One possible solution may be to embed a secondary signal or pattern into the image that is not perceivable and is mixed so well with the original digital data that it is inseparable and remains unaffected against any kind of multimedia signal processing. This embedded secondary information is digital watermark which is, in general a visible or invisible identification code that may contain some information about the intended recipient, the lawful owner or author of the original data, its copyright etc. in the form of textual data or image. In order to be effective for copyright protection, digital watermark must be robust which are difficult to remove from the object in which they are embedded despite a variety of possible attacks. I propose a spatial domain steganalysis with cryptography encryption method to deal with the blind image steganalysis problem which is Universal. Several types of watermarking algorithms have been developed so far each of which has its own advantages and limitations. Among this recently Least Significant Bit (LSB) based watermarking algorithms have attracted researchers due to its simplicity and some attractive properties of LSB. An image of small size will be hide in an image of relatively large size.

B1. Literature Review:

(Detailed summary of what all has been done internationally in the proposed area quoting references and bibliography. Please note that this section demonstrates the depth of knowledge of the project team and builds the confidence of the evaluators about capability of the team in achieving the stated objectives.)

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< A technique had been introduced for steganography by using LSB insertion technique in

which a steganography system is designed for encoding and decoding a secret file embedded into an image file using random LSB insertion method in which the secret data are spread out among the image data in a seemingly random manner. This can be achieved using a secret key. The secret key is shared between sender and receiver which include some cryptography techniques embedded into it. The key used to generate pseudorandom numbers, which will identify where, and in what order the hidden message is laid out. The advantage of this method is that it incorporates some cryptography in that diffusion is applied to the secret message. Another technique used the steganographic method in order to conceal the existence of secret information hidden inside the image. He used steganography using LSB with the technique used in implementing
steganography. He focused on the Least Significant Bit (LSB) technique in hiding messages in an image. The system enhanced the LSB technique by randomly dispersing the bits of the message in the image and thus making it harder for unauthorized people to extract the original message. He uses secure information hiding system (SIHS) by embedding message into original image called cover image and then extraction of image from cover image without using secret key.
> B2. Current State of the Art:
(Please describe the current state of the art specific to this research topic.)

<information hiding techniques involving Steganography and cryptography> C. Challenges:

(Please describe the challenges, specific to this research topic, currently being faced internationally.)

<To explore my knowledge in respective area I need at least 2 or 3 meetings and discussion with researcher belongs to Department of Computer System & Communication Faculty of Computer Science and Information system

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA >

D. Motivation and Need:
(Please describe the motivation and need for this work.)

<Due to excess rate of cyber crime in electronic media it is the need of time to protect information from miscellaneous people, This is the main motivation of undertaking this project >

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3. Objectives of the Project

A. Specific Objectives Being Addressed by the Project:
(Please describe the measurable objectives of the project and define the expected results. Use results-oriented wording with verbs such as to develop.., to implement.., to research.., to determine.., to identify.. The objectives should not be statements and should not include explanations and benefits. The objective should actually specify in simple words what the project team intends to achieve (something concrete and measurable/ deliverable). Fill only those objectives that are applicable to the proposed project.)

To keep away the secret information from criminals like hackers etc To avoid duplication of copyright data To securely communication b/w two parties For highly authorized parties like ISI etc to exchange information secretly and with protection

A1. Research Objectives: (if any)

1. <to introduce new technique in the field of Steganography and information security 2. To provide a way for upcoming researchers interested in information security
systems> A2. Academic Objectives: (if any)

1. <this project will be beneficial for other students, teachers and as well as researchers
those are working on information security systems> A3. Industrial Objectives: (if any)

1. <For mobile industry to groom up by embeded secret communication software in it 2. For Military use to secure highly secret messages. >
A4. Human Resource Development Objectives: (if any)

1. <this project will provide a way forward to information security and secret
communication systems> A5. Other Objectives: (if any)

1. <leading toward exploration of new technique and methods related to information

security >

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4. Research Approach
A. Development / Research Methodology:
(Please describe the technical details and justification of your development and research plan. Identify specialized equipment, facilities and infrastructure which are required for the project and their utilization plan. The block diagrams, system flow charts, high level algorithm details etc. have to be provided in this section.)

<the mentioned project is totally research based, the research area involves following (i) Development of steganographic system by using LSB technique (ii) LSB further involves random insertion of bits in the stego image Research requirements I. To explore knowledge in respective area at least 2 or 3 meetings with mentioned researcher are needed, mentioning the required researcher belongs to Department of Computer System & Communication Faculty of Computer Science and Information system

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

II.
B. A laptop along with internet is needed to complete the required project> Project Team:
(Please attach the curriculum vitae (CV) of PI and CPI(s). Also attach the CVs of key research/ development personnel if available. Please follow the format included in Annexure A. The numbers in the table below must tally with the HR Cost sheet in the Budget file.)

Title / Position Team Leads Researchers / Developers Researcher / Development Assistants Support Staff Contract Staff (please specify) Others (please specify) Add more rows if required C. Team Structure:

Number nil nil nil nil nil nil Nil

(Please define the team structure (organogram) and role/key responsibilities of each member. If in collaboration with another partner, the division of manpower at various locations of partners be provided.)

<paste organogram here>

Title/Position (of each member)

Role/Key Responsibilities

Minimum Qualification Required

Expertise / Background Required

Minimum Experience Required (years)

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D.

Project Activities:
(Please list and describe the main project activities, including those associated with the transfer of the research results to customers/beneficiaries. The timing and duration of research activities are to be shown in the Gantt chart in Section 8.)

<1.steganographic system Design 2. Stego image software 3. System specification

4. Research paper >

E. Key Milestones and Deliverables:
(Please list and describe the principal milestones and associated deliverables of the project. A key milestone is reached when a significant phase in the project is concluded, e.g. selection and simulation of algorithms, completion of architectural design and design documents, commissioning of equipment, completion of test, etc.) The timing of milestones is also to be shown in the Gantt chart in Section 8. Quarterly deliverables are preferred. The information given in this table will be the basis of monitoring and release of funds by the National ICT R&D Fund.

No.

Elapsed time from start (in months) of the project 15 days 15 days 1 month 1 month 25 days 20 days 2 days

Milestone

Deliverables

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Design specification Research work + documentation Coding Implementation + documentation Final documentation Research paper Delivery of final project

Technical progress report submitted Report submitted undergoing no no undergoing no

(Please add more rows if required.)

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5. Benefits of the Project

A. Direct Customers / Beneficiaries of the Project:
(Please identify clearly the potential customers/beneficiaries of the research results and provide details of their relevance, e.g. size, economic contribution, etc.)

<Telecom Industry, Military etc.> B. Outputs Expected from the Project: <Secure Communication an Information security> C. Organizational / HRD Outcomes Expected: <information security under highly stressed environment, secure environment for organizational level communication> D. Technology Transfer / Diffusion Approach:
(Please describe how the outputs of the project will be transferred to the direct beneficiaries/customers. Please also state if the project outputs are sustainable, i.e. if they can be utilized without further external assistance.)

<A complete software will be delivered to the organization by direct hand over >

6. Risk Analysis
A. Risks of the Project:
(Please describe the factors that may cause delays in, or prevent implementation of, the project as proposed above; estimate the degree of risk.) (Please mark where applicable)

Low

Medium

High

Technical risk Timing risk Budget risk

A1. Comments: <As a student belonging to rural area the registration and publication of my research paper and representation in foreign country, budget risk is very high >

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7. Contractual Matters
A. Contractual Obligations under this Project:
(Please indicate any contractual obligations with third parties that will be entered into for this project.)

<No> B. Ownership of Intellectual Property Rights: All newly developed intellectual property rights arising out of or capable of legal recognition with respect to the projects implemented by the National ICT R&D Fund (The Company) shall vest with the Company. The Company may assign or license its rights in the said intellectual property to any person on such terms as it may deem appropriate. C. Competent Authority of the Principal Investigators Organization:
(Documentary proof of the Competent Authority (VC/Rector/CEO..) as being the authorized signatory for the PIO is mandatory for approval of the Project Proposal. Please attach copy of the proof.)

Name: Designation: Email: Date:

nil nil nil nil Signature & stamp:

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8. Project Schedule / Milestone Chart

(Project schedule using MS-Project (or similar tools) with all tasks, deliverables, milestones, cost estimates, payment schedules clearly indicated are preferred.)

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9. Proposed Budget
Please use the embedded Excel Worksheet for providing budget details. Double click the icon to open the worksheet.

C:\Documents and Settings\Sohail\Desktop\Proposed Budget-TR&D.xls

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Annexure A Curriculum Vitae

Please provide relevant information and also attach CVs of key research / development personnel (if available) and PI, CPI. A. Professional Information 1. Name : Prof Dr Muhammad Younas Javed Dean of E&ME College rawalpindi,pakistan 30+

2.Title or Position Held :

3. (yrs) 4. B. Experience : Email Address :

Research Papers in Relevant Area

< 1. Saddaf, R., and Javed, M. Y., Improved Image Steganography Technique for Colored Images using Huffman Encoding with Symlet Wavelets, International Journal of Computer Science and Issues, Vol. 9, Issue. 2, March 2012, (ISSN: 1694-0814),Republic of Mauritius

5. Saddaf, R., and Javed, M. Y., Improved Image Steganography Technique for Colored Images using Wavelet Transform, International Journal of Computer Applications, Vol. 39, No. 14, February 2012, (ISSN: 0975-8887), USA. pp. 29-32.
> C. Courses Taught in Relevant Area <digital image processing,>

D.

Thesis / Projects Supervised in Relevant Area <Steganography using LSB>

E.

Grants Received in Relevant Area <type here>

F.

Industrial Work Done in Relevant Area <type here>

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Annexure A Curriculum Vitae

Please provide relevant information and also attach CVs of key research / development personnel (if available) and PI, CPI. G. Professional Information 5. Name :

Bushra Sikander Lecturer 1 year and 9 months bushra.sikander@fjwu.edu.pk

6.Title or Position Held :

7. (yrs) 8. H. Experience : Email Address :

Research Papers in Relevant Area

1. Sikander, M. Ishtiaq, M. Irfan Jaffar, M. Tariq, M. A. Mirza, Adaptive digital watermarking of images using Genetic Algorithm in Proceedings of International Conference on Information Science and Applications (ICISA 2010), 2123 April 2010, Seoul, Korea. 2. B. Sikander, M. Ishtiaq, M. Irfan Jaffar, Aziz Khan, Adaptive watermark Strength Selection using Particle Swarm Optimization in Proceedings of International Symposium on Intelligent Informatics (ISII 2010), 5-7 September 2010, Dalian, China. 3. B. Sikander, M. Ishtiaq, M. Irfan Jaffar, Aziz Khan, Adaptive watermark Strength Selection using Particle Swarm Optimization in ICIC Express Letters, An International Journal of research and surveys, September 2010, Indexed by Ei Compendex (Elsevier). 4. Accurate Biometrics Authentication Technique based on Fast, Robust Iris Recognition System using Enhanced Quality Image, accepted in InSITE 2012, June 22-27 2012, Montreal, Canada.

I.

Courses Taught in Relevant Area Digital Image Processing

J.

Thesis / Projects Supervised in Relevant Area

1. Recognition of Handwritten Script using AI Techniques 2. Accurate Biometrics Authentication Technique Based on Human Iris Recognition System using Enhanced Quality Image 3. Eye Tracking System with Blink Detection 4. Performance and Evaluation of Information Hiding Technique for Gray Scale Image 5. Face Recognition using PCA and LDA Techniques 6. CAD for Lung Cancer Detection using CT Images 7. Image Segmentation and Enhancement Based on Morphological Operations 8. X-Ray Image Pre-processing and Enhancement
K. Grants Received in Relevant Area NIL

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L.

Industrial Work Done in Relevant Area NIL

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Bibliography <nil>

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