Digital Image Steganography with Analogies Tools for Open Sub-system Environment

Steganography should not be confused with cryptography. Cryptography actually transforms the message that is being transmitted to make it obscure to anyone who may actually intercept the message on the Internet. Unlike cryptography where the message is enciphered Steganography programs actually hide the message within another file, whether it is a text, audio or image file. Before discussing Steganography there are a few basic terms that need to be explained. The term "cover" is used to describe the original message; this could be the original digital image file, audio message or text message. The information that is hidden inside of the original message is called the "embedded" data. The term "steno" is used to describe the original data and the embedded data. Steganography means "covered writing". In steganography, confidential data is hidden in images to protect it from unauthorized users. So basically it means, hiding a secret message within a cover-medium in such a way that others cannot detect the presence of the hidden message.

In contemporary terms, steganography has evolved into a digital strategy of hiding a file in some form of multimedia, such as an image, an audio file (like a.wav or mp3) or even a video file. In digital steganography, electronic communications may include Steganography coding inside of a transport layer, such as a document file, image file, program or protocol. Media files are ideal for Steganography transmission because of their large size.