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A Secure Electronic Voting Software Application Based on Image Steganography and Cryptography

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A Secure Electronic Voting Software Application Based on Image Steganography and Cryptography A Secure Electronic Voting Software Application based on Image Steganography and Cryptography Lauretha Rura Supervised by: Dr. Biju Issac A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (by Research) at Swinburne University of Technology (Sarawak Campus) Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science 2013 ABSTRACT Various electronic voting systems have been introduced as substitutes for traditional voting systems as electronic voting systems reduces the manual labor in collection, checking, transportation and counting of votes. However, with the growth of information technology, electronic voting systems are susceptible to malicious attacks (or threats) which undermine the integrity of the voting process. Simple encryption methods are not sufficient to protect the secrecy of election data. Encrypted data can cause suspicion, making it subject to malicious attacks. This research implements a novel approach by combining cryptography schemes with image steganography techniques. Besides improving security, steganography makes the data transmission over the network during the election become less suspicious too. After looking into the requirements of an electronic voting system, current electronic voting schemes available in published literature are examined. Next, the cryptographic and steganography techniques best suited for the requirements of our voting system are chosen and the software was implemented. They are namely Password Hashed-based Scheme, Visual Cryptography, F5 Image Steganography and Threshold Decryption Cryptosystem. Besides improving security, the research also aims to improve the quality of the voting process through user friendly interface design, reduction or elimination of additional hardware such as printers and scanners, improving the speed of the election process and end to end voter verifiability that includes a vote receipt. The last of these would increase the voter’s confidence in electronic voting. The electronic voting system developed is based on Web-based Java EE Technology and MySQL database using the Iterative Waterfall model as the Software Development Life Cycle approach. Java EE was chosen to develop the software because of its wide range of Application Programming Interface (API) that enhanced the software development by automating many of the business and security processes of implementation. A simple quantitative analysis has been also done for data analysis after software implementation by conducting usability testing. Here, the voter’s response and opinions of the system as a whole were observed. The studies, experiments and analysis done in this research resulted in an enhanced version of remote E2E system that provides a reliable and secure system with more flexibility and better performance compared to some reported E2E Voting Systems. Though implemented as a working prototype, the system can be implemented to support small to medium scale elections. i | P a g e ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This Master’s thesis is the result of an inspiring and challenging journey, to which many people have contributed and given their support. For that, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to the following individuals: My coordinating supervisor Dr. Biju Issac for his expert, sincere and valuable guidance and encouragement throughout my Master’s Degree. Without his constant support, I would not have learnt so much in the past years. My associate supervisor Dr. Manas Kumar Haldar for his insightful and constructive suggestions, especially during my thesis writing. His guidance and help are very much appreciated. My family members, Herman Rura, Nita Hartana, Melissa Rura and Chalvin Putra Rura for their unceasing love, faith and prayers. Their support for me throughout my life is invaluable. They have taught me to believe in myself when I was in doubt and inspired me to strive harder when I was not motivated. Without all of you, I would not be who I am today. My closest friend, Winda Dorbilyanti Lie, Finie Kong, Stephan Lee and Lai Qian Jie for sincere friendship and for helping me throughout my ups and downs. Margaret Dahliani Lim and Hanni Stella Angelica for their help and for brightening up my days and Colin Tan Choon Lin for learning the true meaning of Matthew 6:33 (Bible) with me. Above all, I would like to extend my utmost appreciation and gratitude to Jesus Christ whose love is so evident in my life. It is only through His grace and mercy that I have been able to complete this Master’s thesis. ii | P a g e DECLARATIONS I hereby declare that the dissertation - “A Secure Electronic Voting Software Application based on Image Steganography and Cryptography” is my own work and that all the sources I have used or quoted have been acknowledged by means of complete references. It has not already been accepted for any degree, and is also not being concurrently submitted for any other degree. ____________ Lauretha Rura 2 December 2013 iii | P a g e TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................... i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................................. ii DECLARATIONS ........................................................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................. iv LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................... x GLOSSARY .................................................................................................................................. vii CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................................ 1 SIGNIFICANCE AND SCOPE OF THE THESIS ................................................................................ 1 1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Research Background ................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Proposed Solution ....................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Research Objectives .................................................................................................... 4 1.4 Thesis Outline ............................................................................................................. 5 CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................................ 6 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................. 6 2.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 6 2.1 Categories of Voting Systems ..................................................................................... 6 2.1.1 Traditional Polling Station Voting Systems ................................................... 6 2.1.2 Electronic Voting Systems ............................................................................. 9 2.2 Information System Security for Remote Electronic Voting System ....................... 16 2.2.1 Cryptography ............................................................................................... 16 2.2.2 Steganoraphy ................................................................................................ 20 2.3 Voting Systems Threats ............................................................................................ 28 2.3.1 Threats in Traditional Polling Station Election ............................................ 29 2.3.2 Threats in Electronic Voting Systems .......................................................... 29 2.4 Summary and Conclusion ......................................................................................... 30 CHAPTER 3 .............................................................................................................................. 32 STUDIES OF RELATED E-VOTING SYSTEMS ............................................................................. 32 3.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 32 3.1 Helios ........................................................................................................................ 33 3.1.1 System Overview ......................................................................................... 33 3.1.2 Principal Components of the System ........................................................... 35 3.2 Scantegrity II ............................................................................................................. 38 3.2.1 History of Scantegrity Voting System ......................................................... 38 3.2.2 System Overview ......................................................................................... 39 3.2.3 Principal components of the system ............................................................
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