The Computer and Information Systems Department

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 1.7.1

15 day free trial $24.95 to purchase SecureKit, Inc. (www.securekit.com) Note: The following demo is an example of Insertion Steganography (note change in carrier file size) First, choose a carrier file to contain your secret message (click to continue)

Click here to select carrier file Click here to open carrier file Click here to add a secret message Click here to type in the message

Click OK to continue 84 Click Save Click Hide 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) To Open Carrier File, click here 84

84 Click Unhide to reveal Secret Message Click OK to continue Thank you!

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