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Hiding Messages in Pictures

Steganography is the science of hiding secret information in plain sight by concealing data in other files like images, audio, or video. Modern steganography techniques include least significant bit insertion to hide binary data in the pixel values of an image. Secret messages are often first encrypted before being embedded in a file to provide an extra layer of security. Digital watermarking also embeds hidden information but is used for purposes like copyright protection rather than secret communication. Tools like steganalysis aim to detect and reveal hidden data within files by analyzing for unusual visual or statistical patterns introduced during the steganography process.

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36 views

Hiding Messages in Pictures

Steganography is the science of hiding secret information in plain sight by concealing data in other files like images, audio, or video. Modern steganography techniques include least significant bit insertion to hide binary data in the pixel values of an image. Secret messages are often first encrypted before being embedded in a file to provide an extra layer of security. Digital watermarking also embeds hidden information but is used for purposes like copyright protection rather than secret communication. Tools like steganalysis aim to detect and reveal hidden data within files by analyzing for unusual visual or statistical patterns introduced during the steganography process.

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swapnasoppu
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Introduction:

Steganography is all the techniques used to exchange secret messages without drawing attention. It is the science of hiding informatiSome of the old school methods to hide information are: invisible ink, null ciphers, microdots or the use of pinpricks, deliberate misspelling or slightly different font to mark certain words in messages and on maps.

Modern steganography refers to hiding information in digital images, audio files or even video. There are many methods and tools to do that. Nevertheless, and to have double protection, secret messages are first encrypted and then hidden using a steganography tool. The steganographic process can be described with the following formula: Cover medium + Data to hide + Stego key* = Stego Medium * Note that if no encryption is added, there is no need for a Stego key

Hiding messages in pictures


This is usually done by: LSB (Least Significant Bit insertion). Masking & filtering. Algorithms & transformations. Using LSB is famous, so I will choose it to explain how data can be hidden in images. LSB is always the last bit on the right-hand side of any binary number. Changing this bit causes the least possible effect to the original value. In a 24-bit image, there are 3 bytes of data to represent RGB values for every pixel in that image. This implies that we can store/hide 3 bits in every pixel. For example, if the image has the following bits: 10010101 00001101 11001001 10010110 00001111 11001010 10011111 00010000 11001011 To store 101101101. we replace with the original LSBs like this: 10010101 00001100 11001001 10010111 00001110 11001011 10011111 00010000 11001011

To reveal the stored message, the LSBs are extracted alone from the Stego Medium and combined together. Watermarking (digital watermarking) Whenever there is a topic about steganography now a day, Digital Watermarking is also mentioned. It refers to embedding hidden messages as well, but not for the purpose of sending secret information. Instead, Watermarking is usually used for the following: 1. Copyright protection: include ownership information. 2. Copy protection: include instructions to stop data copying devices from making and distributing copies of the original. 3. Prove data authenticity. 4. Tracking: If copies of a file are distributed illegally, the source can be revealed if the master copies had unique watermarks included.

Steganalyses and countermeasures


Steganalyses aim to investigate suspected information to determine whether they include any sealed data and reveal the hidden message if exist. Any unusual patterns (visual or statistical) are usually analyzed to detect suspected information. Hence, any method can be useful, for instance, image editors and hex editors (e.g. HEX Workshop). Some methods are designed and developed to detect and reveal information hidden by known steganography tools. There are also enhanced and powerful digital forensic analysis tools such as StegAlyzerSS (Steganography Analyzer Signature Scanner) developed by the Steganography Analysis and Research Center [5].

Conclusion note
5. The references at the end of this article are quite informative, have a go on them in your free time if you are looking for more details.

References
6. [1] Introduction to Steganography. [cited 2010 Jan 08]; Available from: 7. http://www.infosyssec.com/infosyssec/Steganography/menu.htm 8. [2] Johnson, N. F., Duric, Z., Jajodia, S. Information Hiding: Steganography and Watermarking Attacks and Countermeasures. Kluwer Academic Press. Norwrll, MA, New York, The Hague, London, 2000. [3] Gary C. Kessler. Steganography: Hiding Data Within Data. 2001 [cited 2010 Jan 08]; Available from: 9. http://www.garykessler.net/library/steganography.html 10. [4] Steganography in Signals. [cited 2010 Jan 09]; Available from: 11. http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~elec301/Projects01/smokey_steg/steg.html 12. [5] Steganography Analyzer Signature Scanner. [cited 2010 Jan 09]; Available from: 13. http://www.sarc-wv.com/stegalyzerss.aspx 14. [6] Gary C. Kessler. An Overview of Steganography for the Computer Forensics Examiner. [cited 2010 Jan 10]; Available from: http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/fsc/backissu/july2004/research/2004_03_research01.htm

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