Steganography
What is the Steganography
The word Steganography is derived from two Greek words- ‘stegos’ meaning ‘to cover’ and ‘grayfia’, meaning ‘writing’, thus translating to ‘covered writing’, or ‘hidden writing’. Steganography is a method of hiding secret data, by embedding it into an audio, video, image or text file. It is one of the methods employed to protect secret or sensitive data from malicious attacks.
Steganography is often confused with cryptography because the two are similar in the way that they both are used to protect important information. The difference between two is that steganography involves hiding information so it appears that no information is hidden at all. The cryptography makes the data unreadable, or hides the meaning of the data,
General Specification of Steganography
1. Hidden Data:
The data that is to be embedded from everyone other than. intended receiver.
2. Cover Media :
The media in which the information is to be embedded. Cover media can be an image or an audio file or it can be a. video file.
3. Stego Media :
Cover media containing the hidden data.
Classification of Steganography
- Text Steganography :
A text file is used as a cover medium to hide sensitive data. It deals changing. with format of an existing text within a file, changing the words within the. text.
2. Image Steganography :
An image file is used as a cover medium to hide the secret information. In
digital steganography, images are widely used cover source because there
are a huge number of bits present in the digital representation of an image.
3. Audio Steganography :
It is a method used to send a hidden data within an audio file. Embedding
data in an audio file is much more difficult than hiding data in an image
file.
4. Video Steganography :
A video file is used as a cover medium to hide secret message. It is
less prone for steganalysis as a video file is a combination of text, image
and audio.
