1. “Hiding in Plain Sight”
Steganography
“Hiding in Plain Sight”
Gary Alan Davis, D.Sc. Department of Computer & Information Systems

2. 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)

3. 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

4. Good Steganography Watermarks Digital Watermarks (Glass, 2002)
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

5. 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

6. SecureKit, Inc. (www.securekit.com)
Steganography Demo
Steganography 1.7.1
15 day free trial
$24.95 to purchase
SecureKit, Inc. (
Note: The following demo is an example of Insertion Steganography (note change in carrier file size)

7. First, choose a carrier file to contain your secret message (click to continue)

8. Click here to select carrier file
Click here to open carrier file

9. Click here to add a secret message
Click here to type in the message
Click OK to continue

10. 84
Click Save
Click Hide

11. Secret message is now hidden in carrier file (click to continue)
The next series of steps show how the recipient can reveal the secret message (click to continue)

12. To Open Carrier File, click here84

13. Click Unhide to reveal Secret Message84
Click OK to continue

14. Any Questions? davis@rmu.edu
Thank you!
Any Questions?