A system and method for encoding zero and one bits for transmission, including generating a first signal from a non-linear chaotic system to represent the one bit, with the signal's embedded vectors being within the non-linear system's attractor set, and generating a second signal from the non-linear system to represent the zero bit, with the signal's embedded vectors being outside the non-linear system's attractor set. The second signal encoding the zero bit can be generated by adding together two chaotic signals arising from the non-linear system initialized with different initial conditions, and weighting the second signal to have approximately the same energy as the first signal. One suitable chaotic systems is a Lorenz system. Systems and methods for decoding a transmitted stream of signals compare a detection statistic of the received stream of signals to a threshold value that depends on the chaotic system.