This paper is concerned with the synchronization of discrete master-slave Sprott chaotic systems and its application in secure communication. First, we embed the message into the master discrete chaotic system. Then a discrete sliding mode scheme is utilized to solve the synchronization problem of discrete master-slave Sprott chaotic systems. The proposed scheme can guarantee the synchronization of systems based on the use of Lyapunov stability theory. The selection of discrete switching surface and the existence of discrete sliding mode are addressed. Finally, an illustrative example is given to demonstrate the validity of the proposed theoretical results.