17-01-2012, 11:39 AM
Steganography FAQ
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Introduction
Steganography is a subject which is rarely touched upon by most IT Security Enthusiasts.
Most people don't see Steganography has a potential threat, some people don't even know what
Steganography is.
With this FAQ I hope to answer any questions anyone may want to ask about Steganography,
and to educate people so they can understand what exactly Steganography is.
Is Steganography a potential threat? Well your about to find out.
What Is Steganography?
Steganography is the practice of hiding private or sensitive information within something that
appears to be nothing out of the usual.
Steganography is often confused with cryptology because the two are similar in the way that they
both are used to protect important information.
The difference between the two is that Steganography involves hiding information so it appears
that no information is hidden at all.
If a person or persons views the object that the information is hidden inside of he or she will have
no idea that there is any hidden information, therefore the person will not attempt to decrypt the
information.
Steganography Terms
Carrier File – A file which has hidden information inside of it.
Steganalysis – The process of detecting hidden information inside of a file.
Stego-Medium – The medium in which the information is hidden.
Redundant Bits – Pieces of information inside a file which can be overwritten or altered with out
damaging the file.
Payload – The information which is the be concealed.
History Of Steganography
Through out history Steganography has been used to secretly communicate information between
people.
Some examples of use of Steganography in past times are:
1. During World War 2 invisible ink was used to write information on pieces of paper so that the
paper appeared to the average person as just being blank pieces of paper.
Liquids such as urine, milk, vinegar and fruit juices were used, because when each one of these
substances are heated they darken and become visible to the human eye.
2. In Ancient Greece they used to select messengers and shave their head, they would then write
a message on their head. Once the message had been written the hair was allowed to grow back.
After the hair grew back the messenger was sent to deliver the message, the recipient would
shave off the messengers hair to see the secret message.