Steganography is the art and science of
writing hidden messages in such a way that no one
, apart from the sender and intended recipient, suspe
cts the existence of the mess
age, a form of security through obscurity. T
he word steganography is of Greek origin and means "concea
led writing" from the Greek words steganos meaning "co
vered or protected", and graphein meaning "to w
rite". The first recorded use of the term was in 1499 by Joh
annes Trithemius in his Steganographia, a trea
tise on cryptography and steganography disg
uised as a book on magic. Generally, mess
ages will appear to be something else: images, arti
cles, shopping lists, or some ot
her covertext and, classically, the hidden message may be in invi
sible ink between the visible lines of a private letter.
The
advantage of steganography, over cr
yptography alone, is that messages do not attract attention
to themselves. Plainly visible encrypted messages—no matter
how unbreakable—will arouse s
uspicion, and may in themselves be incriminating
in countries where encryption is illegal. Therefore,
whereas cryptography protects the contents of
a message, steganography can be said to protect b
oth messages and communicating parties.
Steganography inclu
des the concealment of information within com
puter files. In digital steganography, electronic communication
s may include steganographic coding insi
de of a transport layer, such as a document file, image fil
e, program or protocol. Media
files are ideal for steganographic transmissio
n because of their large size. As
a simple example, a sender might start with a
n innocuous image file and adjust the color of every 100th pixel
to correspond to a letter in the alphabet, a
change so subtle that someone not specifically looking f
or it is unlikely to notice it.
The
first recorded uses of steganography can be tr
aced back to 440 BC when Herodotus mentions two examples o
f steganography in The Histories of
Herodotus. Demaratus sent a warning about a
forthcoming attack to Greece by w
riting it directly on the wooden backing of a wax tablet bef
ore applying its beeswax surface. Wax tablets were in common use
then as reusable writing surfaces, sometime
s used for shorthand. Another ancient example is that o
f Histiaeus, who shaved the head of his most trusted s
lave and tattooed a message on it. After his hair had g
rown the message was hidden. The purpose was to
instigate a revolt against the Persians.
Steganography has b
een widely used, including in recent historical times and t
he present day. Possible permutations are endless and
known examples include:
* Hidden messages within wax ta
blets: in ancient Greece, people wrote me
ssages on the wood, then covered it with wax upon which an innocen
t covering message was written
.
* Hidden messages on messenger's body: also used in ancien
t Greece. Herodotus tells the story o
f a message tattooed on a slave's shaved head, hidden by the
growth of his hair, and exposed by shaving his head
again. The message allegedly carried a warning to Greece abo
ut Persian invasion plans. Th
is method has obvious drawbacks,
such as delayed transmission while waiting for the s
lave's hair to grow, and the restrictions o
n the number and size of mess
ages that can be encoded on one person
's scalp.
* In WWII, the French Resistance sent some messages w
ritten on the backs of couriers
using invisible ink.
* Hidden messages on paper wr
itten in secret inks, under other messages
or on the blank parts of other
messages.
* Messages written in Morse code on knitting yarn and
then knitted into a piece of clothing wor
n by a courier.
* Messages written on the back o
f postage stamps.
* During and after
World War II, espionage agents used photographically p
roduced microdots to send information back and
forth. Microdots were typically
minute, approximately less than the size of the period prod
uced by a typewriter. WWII microdots needed to be embedded
in the paper and covered with an adhesive (such as collodion). T
his was reflective and thus detectable
by viewing against glancing light. Alternative techniques included
inserting microdots into slits cut into the edge of
post cards.
* During World War II, a spy for
Japan in New York City, Velvalee
Dickinson, sent information to accommodatio
n addresses in neutral South Americ
a. She was a dealer in dolls, and
her letters discussed how many of this or that doll
to ship. The stegotext was the doll orders, while the
concealed "plaintext" was itself enco
ded and gave information about ship movements,
etc. Her case became somewhat fa
mous and she became known as the
Doll Woman.
* Cold War count
er-propaganda. In 1968, crew membe
rs of the USS Pueblo (AGER-2) intelligence ship held as pr
isoners by North Korea, communicated in sign
language during staged photo opport
unities, informing the United States they
were not defectors but rather were being held ca
ptive by the North Koreans. In other photo
s presented to the US, crew members gave "the finger" to
the unsuspecting North Koreans, in an attempt to
discredit photos that showed them smi
ling and comfortable.
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