“Hiding in Plain Sight” 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 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

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

SecureKit, Inc. (www.securekit.com) 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

Click Unhide to reveal Secret Message 84 Click OK to continue

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