#18 what is Steganography explained by shawon mir - ethical hacking @Auouymons

Steganography is the practice of concealing one piece of information within another, typically in a way that is not apparent to casual observers. It’s a method of hiding the existence of a message or data within a seemingly innocuous carrier, such as an image, audio file, or text document. The goal of steganography is to maintain the secrecy of the communication. Key points about steganography include: 1. Concealment: Unlike cryptography, which focuses on making a message unreadable, steganography focuses on making the message invisible within the carrier. 2. Carrier Medium: The carrier can be an image (most common), audio file, video, or any other digital or physical medium where information can be embedded. 3. Embedding Methods: Steganographic techniques include altering least significant bits (LSBs) of pixels in an image, subtly modifying the frequency components of audio, or even using whitespace characters in text documents to hide information. 4. Applications: Steganography has both legitimate and potentially malicious applications. It can be used for covert communication, watermarking digital media, and protecting intellectual property. 5. Detection: Detecting steganography can be challenging, as the alterations to the carrier are often subtle. Specialized steganalysis tools and techniques are used to detect hidden information. 6. Security and Ethics: The ethical use of steganography is for legitimate purposes, such as protecting data during transmission or confirming the authenticity of digital files. However, it can also be misused for illegal activities, such as hiding malware, stealing data, or carrying out covert communication for malicious purposes. Steganography is a field that requires a balance between security and privacy. Legal and ethical considerations should guide its use, and it’s important to be aware of the potential for misuse in cases where detection is necessary for security or law enforcement purposes.