Steganography

“Hiding in Plain Sight”

Gary Alan Davis, D.Sc.Department of Computer & Information Systems

Steganography – what is it?

• Covered Writing (Berinato, 2003)

– from Greek “steganos” & “graphie”

• Earliest example (May, 1997)

– Greece, 500 B.C.– Message tattooed on shaved head of slave– Message sent when hair grew back

• Goal: Hide the fact that message even exists (Glass, 2002)

Steganography in Technology

• Hiding messages within legitimate files– Picture (.bmp, .jpeg, .gif)– Audio (.wav, .mp3)– Video (.mpeg, .avi)

• Messages could be . . . (Fisher, 2004)

– Trademark/copyright information– Communication to others– Malicious code

Good Steganography

• Watermarks– Identify copyrighted material– Deter unlicensed use– Deter piracy

• Digital Watermarks (Glass, 2002)

– Robust Watermarks – use blocked if mark is detected– Fragile Watermarks – use blocked if mark is corrupted

Bad Steganography

• Malicious code (Fisher, 2004)

– Viruses– Spyware

• Terrorist Communications (Kolata, 2001)

– “Dead Drop” (e.g., eBay)– No direct communication– Difficult to detect hidden messages in files

Steganography Demo

Steganography 1.7.115 day free trial

$24.95 to purchaseSecureKit, Inc. (www.securekit.com)

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Thank you!

Any Questions?

davis@rmu.edu