Steganography
/ˌstɛɡ.əˈnɒɡ.rə.fi/ · Noun · Security & Infosec
Definitions
The practice of concealing a message, file, or data within another non-secret file or medium — such as hiding text inside an image's pixel data — so that the very existence of the hidden content is undetectable.
In plain English: Hiding secret information inside normal-looking files like photos or music, so nobody even knows there's a hidden message.
Etymology
- c. 440 BCE
- Herodotus describes the first known steganography: a Greek shaving a slave's head, tattooing a message, and waiting for hair to regrow
- 1499
- Johannes Trithemius writes 'Steganographia,' giving the art its modern name from Greek steganos (covered) and graphein (writing)
- 1990s
- Digital steganography tools emerge, hiding data in image and audio files by manipulating least-significant bits
Related Terms
- Encryption
- Homomorphic Encryption
- Key Derivation Function
- Post-Quantum Cryptography
- Cleartext
- Crypto Agility
- Cryptanalysis
- Cryptographic Nonce
- Cryptographic Primitive
- Cryptojacking Attack
- Data Encryption Standard
- DES
- Entropy Analysis
- Forward Secrecy
- GnuPG
- Hash Extension Attack
- Key Rotation
- Keystroke Injection
- MD5
- OpenSSL
- Padding Oracle Attack
- PBKDF2
- PKCS
- S/MIME
- Blowfish
- Cipher Block Chaining
- Ciphertext Feedback
- Cryptographic Key
- OpenPGP
- PFS
- Post-Quantum
- Root Key