STEGANOGRAPHY

using matlab
Introduction
Steganography is the art and science of writing hidden messages in such
a way that no one, apart from the sender and intended recipient, suspects
the existence of the message, a form of security through obscurity.

Steganography includes the concealment of information within computer

files. In digital steganography, electronic communications may include
steganographic coding inside of a transport layer, such as a document file,
image file, program or protocol. Media files are ideal for steganographic
transmission because of their large size.
EXAMPLE
•Hidden messages on paper written in secret inks, under other messages or
on the blank parts of other messages.

•A 24-bit bitmapwill have 8 bits representing each of the three color values

(red, green, and blue) at each pixel. If we consider just the blue there will be
28 different values of blue. The difference between 11111111 and 11111110 in
the value for blue intensity is likely to be undetectable by the human eye.
Therefore, the least significant bit can be used (more or less undetectably) for
something else other than color information.
Digital Steganography
•With literally millions of images moving on the internet each year it is safe to
say that digital image steganography is of real concern to many in the IT
security field. Digital images could be used for a number of different types of
security threats. In the corporate world the sending of a harmless looking
bitmap file could actually conceal the latest company secrets. JPEGS could be
used in the government to conceal the latest military secrets.

• Over 800 digital steganography applications have been identified by the

Steganography Analysis and Research Center.[5] Digital steganography
techniques include.
Digital Steganography
•The use of digital images for steganography makes use of the weaknesses in
the human visual system, which has a low sensitivity in random pattern
changes and luminance. The human eye is incapable of discerning small
changes in color or patterns and because of this weakness text or graphic files
can be inserted into the carrier image without being detected. Each graphic
image is made up of what is called pixel elements (pixels). Each elements
color is determined by the numerical value that it is assigned, ranging from 0 to
255. For example, a typical elements value could be seen as 00000000 or
00000001. The typical digital image is made up of either 8 bit (256 color) or 24
bit (true color) pixels. In a 24 bit graphic file each pixel would be represented
by 3 bytes, each being 8 bits long.
How does it work?
•At a lower level, the units of data storage
are bits and bytes, and in some formats,
there are header and footer information
that ‘read' these bits and bytes to
construct the information that we see, say
in word processors and image editors. To
see this in action, open an image file in
Notepad and watch a junk of special
characters appear.
How does it work?
There have been instance of cheat codes for games
that relied on opening up an EXE file and altering the
bits that governed licensing, or applying other cheats
by by-passing the instruction code responsible for
executing a particular part of whole programme.
Same logic applies in steganography but in a much
simpler way since it mostly deals with multimedia
content in which bits and bytes represents colours. If
pixel information is contained in an eight digit
number, altering the least significant bit would create
alteration in colour which may not be detectable to a
human eye.
 Uses
•There are several industrial uses of steganography. Firstly, it can be used as a
way of introducing bookmark information to thwart copyright infringement. The
hidden information can be used as a proof of ownership of digital content - say
videos, MP3s and even PDF files. In an event of dispute, the real owner can use
the same tool he used initially to hide information in the file to reveal it, thus
proving his right on the content.

•This is needed in cases of ATM robberies where a person is asked on a gun-

point to show his real balance and take it out. If there would be some other
secret PIN, the ATM could automatically show ‘service is down' or some other
message to prevent the real balance being shown.
Advantages
•Digital watermarking.
•Used in colour lasers to track the originating printer
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