It is entirely natural to be baffled by the title because not many people are acquainted with the term steganography. But, it is not as foreboding as it sounds.
You must have come across the word cryptography. It refers to messages that are not obvious. To put it simply, cryptography is when you frame a message in such a way that it cannot be understood at once. It can be done if the message is stated ambiguously, making it difficult for the reader to find out what it conveys. There may be a riddle for you to crack or symbols for you to decipher. But, the principal point of cryptography is that the message is in plain sight, and all it asks of a reader is to decode it and understand the hidden meaning of the coded message.
The concept of steganography is vaguely similar to that of cryptography, which is why some experts also call it one of the latter’s branches. But, most do not agree with this theory since there is a stark contrast between the two which cannot be avoided at any cost.
The difference is, while cryptography includes hidden messages, they are always available for the reader to solve and understand.
Steganography also consists of hidden messages that are modified with a code. But, it is not available for the reader to decipher. It remains right under an observer’s nose, but they will still not notice it.
People who have a cyber security degree are experienced in forming perfect steganographic messages. If you still feel confused about steganography, then read on to find out more about it as we delve into more details about steganography in this article.
What is the process of steganography?
Three primary topics need to be covered before getting into the details about the process of making information a part of steganography.
he first topic that we must discuss is capacity. Capacity refers to the quantity of information that can be processed to be hidden so that nobody will know about its presence even when looking right at it.
The next thing that we must discuss is, of course, security. Just because most people are not aware of steganography does not mean a few will not try to find and break the code.
Thus, there must be ample security measures to stop hackers from stealing information. If not, this can be highly harmful to the organization that the data belonged to.
In order to prevent such mishaps, the system is programmed in such a way that it undergoes continuous modifications to a certain extent to prevent someone from hacking into the information. This is called robustness.
Let us look at the steps of a successful stenography by keeping capacity, security, and robustness in mind.
Isolating the unnecessary pieces of information
The parts and portions of the highly redundant data are automatically deemed unnecessary, and these sections are isolated from the data that needs to undergo steganography.
The isolation part of the process should be well taken care of because it should not affect the central message of the data in any way whatsoever.
Replacing the isolated pieces with sensitive data
The unnecessary parts that are eliminated are replaced with sensitive information about something that must be hidden among the primary set of data.
If these pieces are modified, then their statistical properties will also change. Thus, if the statistical analysis is carried out, it will be possible for a hacker to recover the hidden information.
What are the uses of steganography?
Steganography is usually employed by governments of different countries for security reasons, while business organizations may also do the same.
This implies that a government needs to protect its country’s secrets. Thus, if the government makes any message exchanges, it should do so with the help of steganography.
Instead of talking about governments and business organizations, let us put it in a more general way. If some sensitive information is being exchanged, then it must be kept secure.
Protecting trade secrets
Business organizations also use steganography to protect their trade secrets. It may so happen that an organization is preparing to launch a new product, and other businesses may be looking to steal it.
In this case, steganography proves to be very useful by keeping the information at bay. Of course, this works as long as the enemy finds it challenging to find the hidden information.
Confidentiality is maintained at all costs
It may also happen that, if not hidden, the message would have probably been censored, which is not favorable for the receiver. Thus, hiding it by steganography also evades censorship. In this way, you can exchange sensitive information without having to compromise on confidentiality, as well as censorship.
Prevents alteration of data
If other people are trying to sabotage your work or the data you are exchanging with other people, they will try their utmost to hack into your system and alter the data for your inconvenience.
Steganography plays a massive part in making sure your data remains protected and well away from the prying eyes of hackers who are looking to ruin your data.
They will only be able to do such a thing if they can access the information, but steganography makes sure they do not. Thus, you can rest assured that steganography will prevent any data alterations.
Providing access to steganographic content leads to profit
Since steganography is a series of hidden messages, most people are inquisitive to know those contents. This can be used to the organization’s advantage to promote something.
For example, a website owner may decide to discuss the contents of their steganographic content at length to appeal to its audience so that they become more interested in accessing it.
They will then be required to perform a particular step as instructed by the owner to view the content. The step usually involves paid subscriptions to get access to the content.
Storing data without fear of hacking
We have been talking at length about how sensitive information can be exchanged without being intercepted by a third party.
Let us now talk about storing it in a safe location because the stored data is as vulnerable to hacking as the one that is being exchanged.
Banks and other such institutions keep a lot of their client’s and customers’ data. If the information falls into the wrong hands, both parties will be harmed.
Steganography ensures that the data remains secure and protected when stored and safeguards the organizations and their clients.
Conclusion
The sender and receiver of steganographic messages need to come to terms with the model and design it so that they can find them out when required.
Thus, despite having so many advantages, steganography is not without some drawbacks. It requires a lot of time and effort, making it quite extensive to carry out.
There are many cybersecurity certificate programs where you can learn the art of steganography. The program from Stanford University and Great Learning teaches you all the in-depth concepts of cybersecurity, assisting you in accomplishing a successful career path in this technology.