Embedding Covert Information in Broadcast Communications

Abstract: We analyze a two-receiver binary-input discrete memoryless broadcast channel, in which the transmitter communicates a common message simultaneously to both receivers and a covert message to only one of them. The unintended recipient of the covert message is treated as an adversary who attempts to detect the covert transmission. This model captures the problem of embedding covert messages in an innocent codebook and generalizes previous covert communication models in which the innocent behavior corresponds to the absence of communication between legitimate users. We identify the exact asymptotic behavior of the number of covert bits that can be transmitted when the rate of the innocent codebook is close to the capacity of the channel to the adversary. Our results also identify the dependence of the number of covert bits on the channel parameters and the characteristics of the innocent codebook.