The Journey of Steganography

 

Data has been working as distinct tool of procuring information. Since the era of 90’s, human being is using data for transmitting or storing information. In the recent past modern technologies are implemented to make a shield and protect data from digital theft or malfunctions. But, even today the sense of insecurity works within us, even for opening an application related our bank account or other security deposits.  My principal motive as an Assistant Professor of Computer Science, at The University of Engineering & Management, Jaipur is to flame a light on a technique which is protecting our data system from the past .

Steganography is the method of hiding secret data within a simple, non-secret, file or message in order to avoid exposure; the secret data is then extracted at its destination.

Let me explain you in very simple words, steganography is the technology which hides your information in another informative object , for example :

In the above image of Monalisa’s vision is focused and if you see it properly, you can find out the 0,1 sequence in her eyes. Here you can see that one object is a digital image and another object is a binary number. The combination of both develops the concept of  steganoraphy. The object can be anything like an audio file, video file, text file or image file.

Let me throw a light on the background of steganography dated way back in 440 B.C.

1. Wax Tablets: In ancient Greece, people wrote secret messages on wood and then they were covered with Wax.

 

2. Shove Heads: This was also used back in ancient Greece. Slaves were hired, their heads were completely shaved and a message was written secretly on their scalp. Following this, the slaves were given time to grow their hair till the message was covered. The slave was then delivered to a recipient who used to shove their heads again to find the message  .  You can see in the image with a written text on the scalp.

3.Invisible Ink: Secret messages were written using invisible ink which became visible only when the paper carrying the message was heated. Liquids such as milk, vinegar and fruit juices were used as Invisible inks.

4.Morse code: Secret messages were written in Morse code on the knitting yarn. A cloth was made out ofthe yarn which was worn by the carrier. For example Jeremiah Denton (S. Senatorrepresenting Alabama from 1981 to 1987, a United States Navy Rear Admiral, and Naval Aviator taken captive during the Vietnam War. ) blinked his eyes in Morse code to spellthe word ―Torture‖ in a Television conference. This ensured the US Military that American POWswere tortured in North Vietnam.

So this is the brief historical journey of Steganography, which has evolved as a tool for maintaining secrecy and value of confidentiality.

To know more about the techniques you can visit our website https://uem.edu.in/uem-jaipur/ and you can follow us on

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Works Cited

1. Ravi K Sheth, Rashmi M. Tank “Image Steganography Techniques” International Journal of Computer Engineering and Sciences(IJCES) Volume-1 Issue-2, 2015,ISSN: – 2394-6180(online) www.knowledgecuddle.com.

 

2. Kelvin Salton “Steganography: Hiding an image inside another”https://towardsdatascience.com/steganography-hiding-an-image-inside-another-77ca66b2acb1

 

Thank You!

Prof. Jyoti Khandelwal,
Department of CSE,
University of Engineering & Management (UEM), Jaipur