There is always a need for more memory and enhanced security for transmission. Image compression has gained importance because it reduces the storage space with the only acceptable amount of degrading in quality. Also, cryptographic techniques are used to provide security during transmission. In this project, an efficient compression and cryptographic model for image transmission are proposed. An input image of any format is converted to a grayscale image and Wavelet-Based Contourlet Transform(WBCT) is applied. Wavelets have the capability of approximation of images with sharp discontinuities, but they are not efficient for the approximation of images with a smooth contour. Contourlet transform uses Laplacian pyramidal decomposition and a directional filter bank to produce effective and powerful multiresolution and directional decomposition of an image. Together Wavelets and Contourlet Transform makes an image suitable for image compression. Huffman coding is used for lossless compression of data(image). This compressed image is encrypted using ECC (Elliptic Curve Cryptography). ECC has its own advantages such as smaller keys with enhanced security, requires less computing power, battery life, and memory. The ECC decryption algorithm will perfectly recover the original image. The work is implemented by using MATLAB. The compression ratio is 4.2 to 5 and PSNR value in the range of 24-32.