Steganography

The Importance of Understanding Steganography

Neil Johnson defines steganography as the art of concealing the existence of information within seemingly innocuous carriers . The main objective of steganography is to hide messages inside other harmless messages in such a way that it does not allow any enemy to even detect that there is a second secret message present . Steganography is best utilized by people who specialize in the gathering and analysis of information and intelligence to provide advice to their government or another organization- the intelligence officers . It is therefore crucial that

intelligence officers have basic understanding and knowledge on the subject of steganography

Understanding steganography will provide intelligence officers with the opportunity to be more effective in carrying out their jobs especially in handling important and confidential information . Steganography has been throughout history been an important tool in the field of information gathering and intelligence . During and after HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /World_War_II " \o "World War II " World War II , HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Espionage " \o "Espionage espionage agents used HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Microdot " \o "Microdot " microdots to send information back and forth insecure passages

Understanding the concept and use of steganography will allow intelligence officers to maintain the confidentiality of valuable information and protect the data from possible sabotage , theft and unauthorized viewing . Information gathered about an adversary 's military activities or capabilities for example must be transmitted carefully and secretly to preserve the government 's ability to predict or neutralize these activities

Steganography allows intelligence officers and their agencies or government to communicate with each other without fear of divulging the important information and data to unauthorized entities . In the Vietnam War , a captured American officer was presented to the television by the Vietcong . This officer was unable to tell anything negative about the way he was treated , but he made it very clear by blinking the Morse code for 'torture ' with his eyes (Moerland , 2003 . By using steganography in any form , government agencies may send messages to secret agents in the field to give them instructions or solicit information . Similarly agents will be able to communicate back without attracting attention of a third party

The Importance of Understanding Steganography page _2

An understanding of steganography may allow detection and interception of hidden data that may be of national significance and interest . The features and applications of steganography allow criminals to communicate and conceal their activities in the physical world or in cyberspace . Justice Department officials testified that in the Aldrich Ames spy case , the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI ) learned that his Soviet handlers instructed Ames to encrypt computer data that he transmitted to them (Schwartz , 1999 . A fundamental attack against steganography is the detection of the presence of hidden data which in some cases may be commenced by inspection . An intelligence officer familiar with steganography may therefore detect and report such secret communications

It is appropriate for intelligence officers to equip themselves with the knowledge in steganography to...