Steganography Hides Photos in Photos

The FBI recently reported that spies hid messages on public websites: FBI: Spies Hid Secret Messages on Public Websites. This concept of hiding information is called steganography. Information is visible yet hidden. With this concept, one digital photo can be used to hide another.

After reading about the Russian spies, I felt a need to give steganography a try. I’m sure there are approaches, as well.

Download the free steganograpahy software available at Steganography 1.0 Build 12.
Load one bitmap image into Steganography
Add another image as a data file. This image can have any file format.
Save the resulting image.
The hidden image can be recovered with the same program that was used to create it.

It was surprisingly easy. I was able to hide one digital photo in another, see Steganography Test.bmp. Let me know if you are able to view the hidden image in this photo.

Although it is not as interesting, steganography is also used to hide copyright information in digital photos.

About Mark Mizen

I have over twenty years professional experience in all aspects of photography and digital imaging. I am Chair of the ISO WG5 TG2 committee responsible for physical properties and durability of imaging material and am currently with HID Global working on systems for security printing for IDs, licenses, and credit cards. Previously, I was Director of Digital Development at Creative Memories from 2009 to 2012 and was responsible for the Creative Memories digital products and services. I also established and directed the Creative Memories Technology Center, which evaluated new products prior to product introduction, assisted with production difficulties, and provided technical information to support product sales.

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