Steganography and Terrorist Communications: Current Information and Trends - Tools, Analysis and Future Directions in Steganalysis in Context with Terrorists and Other Criminals
 

William Eyre
Purdue University
 

Marcus Rogers
Purdue University
 

ABSTRACT

In ancient times, users communicated using steganography, “…derived from the Greek words steganos, meaning ‘covered’, and graphein, meaning ‘to write.’” (Singh, 1999, p.5) Steganography facilitates secret, undetected communication. In modern times, in the context of the Global War on Terror, national intelligence and law enforcement agencies need tools to detect hidden information (steganography) in various types of media, most specifically to uncover the placement of hidden information in images. This paper will look at steganography in general terms, presenting the theory of some common steganographic techniques and touching on some theoretical work in steganography. Then a discussion of how to utilize detection tools will shed light on the question of how to make our nation more secure in light of this technology being used by nefarious individuals and organizations.

Keywords: Steganography, information hiding, computer forensics, terrorism, steganalysis, cryptography