Skip to content

Steganography

links: AC1 TOC - Security & Cryptography - Index

'stegano' (covered) 'graphy' (writing)

Steganography is the practice of hiding information or messages within other non-secret data, such as images, audio files, video files, or text documents, in a way that the existence of the hidden information remains undetectable to an observer. The goal of steganography is to conceal the fact that communication is taking place, as opposed to cryptography, which focuses on making the content of a message unreadable.

In steganography, the secret information is embedded within the carrier data by making subtle modifications that are visually or audibly imperceptible to the human senses. The carrier file, also known as the cover file, can be an image, audio file, or any other digital file format that provides enough redundancy or complexity to allow the hidden information to be concealed within it.

Uses in the security context

  • Confidential communications - Try to hide the fact that there is communication taking place.
  • Watermarking
  • Malware concealment
  • Data exfiltration - Hide data to be stolen in innocent looking files

links: AC1 TOC - Security & Cryptography - Index