Steganography is the art of passing information in a manner that the very existence of the message is unknown. Though steganography is an ancient craft, the onset of computer technology has given it new life. Computer-based steganographic techniques introduce changes to digital covers to embed information foreign to the native covers. The goal of steganography is to avoid drawing suspicion to the transmission of a hidden message. If suspicion is raised, then this goal is defeated. Steganalysis is the art of discovering and rendering useless such covert messages.

The first part of this presentation explains steganography, provides a brief history, and describes how steganography is applied in hiding information in images. The second part of this presentation introduces steganalysis terminology and concepts that direct the steganalyst to the possible existence of a hidden message.

Neil F. Johnson is a Research Associate for the Center for Secure Information Systems in the School for Information Technology Engineering at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia and is currently enrolled in the Ph.D. program for Information Technology. He received his Masters of Science in Information Systems from George Mason University in 1996 and his Bachelors of Business Administration from James Madison University with honors and distinction in Decision Support Systems and a concentration in Computer Information Systems. His current research interest is Steganography. The URL for his web page at the University is http://isse.gmu.edu/~njohnson.