How to Hide Data in Image, Audio & Video Files: Steganography
Ever
wondered to know how to hide secret messages in images, audio and video files?
Well, in this post I will take you through a concept called steganography using
which, it is possible to hide your secret information in image
files, songs or any other file of your choice. At the end of this post,
you can also download free stegnographic tools and start hiding your data.
What is Steganography?
Steganography is
a means of obscuring data where secret messages are hidden
inside computer files such as images, sound files, videos and even
executable files so that, no one except the sender and the receiver will
suspect the existence of stealth information in it. Steganography may also
involve the usage of cryptography where the message is first encrypted before
it is concealed in another file. Generally, the messages appear to be something
else such as an image, sound or video so that the transfer of secret data
remains unsuspected.
What are the Applications of Steganography?
Steganography
is mainly used to obscure confidential information/data during storage or
transmission. For example, one can hide a secret message in an audio file and
send this to another party via email instead of sending the message in the
textual format. The receiver on the other end will decrypt the hidden message
using the private decryption key. In a worst case scenario, even if
a third party does manage to gain access to the email,
all he can find is the audio file and not the hidden data inside it. Other
usage of steganography include digital watermarking of images for reasons such
as copyright protection.
How to Use Stego Magic?
Suppose you
want to hide a text message inside a JPG file:
1. Place the
JPG and the text file (.txt) in the same folder as that of StegoMagic_TXT.exe
2. Run StegoMagic_TXT.exe and
follow the screen instructions to embed the text message inside the JPG image.
3. Note down
the secret decryption key.
Now you can
send this image to your friend via email. To decrypt the hidden message, your
friend should load this JPG file onto the Stego
Magic tool and use the secret
decryption key.
