Steganography techniques for digital images

This book covers newly developed and novel Steganography techniques and algorithms. The book outlines techniques to provide security to a variety of applications using Steganography, with the goal of both hindering an adversary from decoding a hidden message, and also preventing an adversary from suspecting the existence of covert communications. The book looks into applying these newly designed and improved algorithms to provide a new and efficient Steganographic system, called Characteristic Region-Based Image Steganography (CR-BIS). The algorithms combine both the robustness of the Speeded-Up Robust Features technique (SURF) and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) to achieve characteristic region Steganography synchronization. The book also touches on how to avoid hiding data in the whole image by dynamically selecting characteristic regions for the process of embedding. * Applies and discusses innovative techniques for hiding text in a digital image file or even using it as a key to the encryption; * Provides a variety of methods to achieve characteristic region Steganography synchronization; * Shows how Steganography improves upon cryptography by using obscurity features.

How does society function when you can't trust everyone?

When we think about trust - we naturally think about personal relationships or bank accounts. But that is much too narrow; trust is broader, and far more important. Nothing in society works without trust. It is the foundation of communities, commerce, democracy, and world stability.

In this insightful and entertaining book, Schneier weaves together ideas from across the social and biological sciences to explore how societies induce and encourage trust–and what happens when it fails in our personal lives, our businesses, communities, and the world.

In today’s hyper-connected society, understanding the mechanisms of trust is as important as understanding electricity was a century ago. Issues of trust and security are critical to solving problems as diverse as corporate responsibility, global warming, and stagnant political systems. After reading Liars and Outliers, you’ll think about social problems, large and small, with a new perspective.

"Schneier makes an original and powerful argument for rethinking society. . . . His message is full of insight into how we function, or don't function, and along the way we are constantly hearing from the giants—such as Emerson, Thoreau, Socrates, even Emily Dickinson."
—Seymour M. Hersh, New Yorker

"Deeply philosophical yet highly accessible, Liars and Outliers is more than thought-provoking—it's the kind of book that fundamentally changes the way you think."
—Daniel J. Solove, John Marshall Harlan Research Professor of Law, George Washington University Law School

"Brilliantly dissects, classifies, and orders the social dimension of security—a spectacularly palatable tonic against today's incoherent and dangerous flailing in the face of threats from terrorism to financial fraud."
—Cory Doctorow, Author of Little Brother and Makers; co-editor of BoingBoing.net

"Engaging, insightful, and thought-provoking, Liars and Outliers will alter how you think about trust and security."
—Dorothy Denning, Distinguished Professor of Defense Analysis, Naval Postgraduate School, and author of Information Warfare and Security

"Without trust, nothing can be achieved. Liars and Outliers is a brilliant analysis of the role of trust in society and business."
—Claus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum

A note for e-book readers: For ease of reference, the figures used in this book are also located at www.schneier.com/lo.

Disappearing Cryptography, Second Edition describes how to take words, sounds, or images and hide them in digital data so they look like other words, sounds, or images. When used properly, this powerful technique makes it almost impossible to trace the author and the recipient of a message. Conversations can be submerged in the flow of information through the Internet so that no one can know if a conversation exists at all.

This full revision of the best-selling first edition describes a number of different techniques to hide information. These include encryption, making data incomprehensible; steganography, embedding information into video, audio, or graphics files; watermarking, hiding data in the noise of image or sound files; mimicry, "dressing up" data and making it appear to be other data, and more. The second edition also includes an expanded discussion on hiding information with spread-spectrum algorithms, shuffling tricks, and synthetic worlds. Each chapter is divided into sections, first providing an introduction and high-level summary for those who want to understand the concepts without wading through technical explanations, and then presenting greater detail for those who want to write their own programs. To encourage exploration, the author's Web site www.wayner.org/books/discrypt2/ contains implementations for hiding information in lists, sentences, and images.

Each chapter is divided into sections, providing first an introduction and high-level summary for those who want to understand the concepts without wading through technical details, and then an introductory set of details, for those who want to write their own programs. Fully revised and expanded. Covers key concepts for non-technical readers. Goes into technical details for those wanting to create their own programs and implement algorithms. Up-to-date website containing the code samples from the book. Disappearing Cryptography, Second Edition describes how to take words, sounds, or images and hide them in digital data so they look like other words, sounds, or images. When used properly, this powerful technique makes it almost impossible to trace the author and the recipient of a message. Conversations can be submerged in the flow of information through the Internet so that no one can know if a conversation exists at all. This full revision of the best-selling first edition describes a number of different techniques to hide information. These include encryption, making data incomprehensible; steganography, embedding information into video, audio, or graphics files; watermarking, hiding data in the noise of image or sound files; mimicry, "dressing up" data and making it appear to be other data, and more. The second edition also includes an expanded discussion on hiding information with spread-spectrum algorithms, shuffling tricks, and synthetic worlds. Each chapter is divided into sections, first providing an introduction and high-level summary for those who want to understand the concepts without wading through technical explanations, and then presenting greater detail for those who want to write their own programs. To encourage exploration, the author's Web site www.wayner.org/books/discrypt2/ contains implementations for hiding information in lists, sentences, and images. Each chapter is divided into sections, providing first an introduction and high-level summary for those who want to understand the concepts without wading through technical details, and then an introductory set of details, for those who want to write their own programs. Fully revised and expanded. Covers key concepts for non-technical readers. Goes into technical details for those wanting to create their own programs and implement algorithms. Up-to-date website containing the code samples from the book We don't demand a background check on the plumber who shows up to fix the leaky sink. We don't do a chemical analysis on food we eat. Trust and cooperation are the first problems we had to solve before we could become a social species. In the 21st century, they have become the most important problems we need to solve again. Our global society has become so large and complex that our traditional trust mechanisms no longer work. Bruce Schneier, world-renowned for his level-headed thinking on security and technology, tackles this complex subject head-on. Society can't function without trust, and yet must function even when people are untrustworthy. Liars and Outliers reaches across academic disciplines to develop an understanding of trust, cooperation, and social stability. From the subtle social cues we use to recognize trustworthy people to the laws that punish the noncompliant, from the way our brains reward our honesty to the bank vaults that keep out the dishonest, keeping people cooperative is a delicate balance of rewards and punishments. It's a series of evolutionary tricks, social pressures, legal mechanisms, and physical barriers. In the absence of personal relationships, we have no choice but to substitute security for trust, compliance for trustworthiness. This progression has enabled society to scale to unprecedented complexity, but has also permitted massive global failures. At the same time, too much cooperation is bad. Without some level of rule-breaking, innovation and social progress become impossible. Society stagnates. Today's problems require new thinking, and Liars and Outliers provides that. It is essential that we learn to think clearly about trust. Our future depends on it. The Barnes & Noble Review Are Osama bin Laden and his buddies exchanging information hidden in the digital noise of photos or audio clips? That s what the rumors say. So far the rumors are just rumors, but steganography -- the art of hiding information -- is rapidly gaining recognition as a key information security weapon. If bin Laden isn t using it, the RIAA and MPAA likely will, to digitally watermark their music and movies. If you want to understand how it works, start with Disappearing Cryptography, Second Edition . Peter Wayner explains each key concept and technique, including several new ones: locking hidden images so they can only be read by an authorized recipient; hiding messages simply by reordering lists (what s really in tonight s Letterman Top Ten?); and new spread spectrum techniques that draw on advanced concepts from wireless communications. He also introduces steganalysis, the science of identifying and compromising files that contain hidden messages. (Fortunately or unfortunately, many current stego algorithms are quite vulnerable.) The book s code samples -- previously written in Pascal -- have been recast in Java, making them far more accessible (one s even online at Wayner s site, (http://www.wayner.org/texts/mimic/) www.wayner.org/texts/mimic/ , so you can try it for yourself right now). (Bill Camarda) Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?isbn=0789718529) Special Edition Using Word 2000 and (http://cart2.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?isbn=0764505424) Upgrading & Fixing Networks For Dummies, Second Edition . Steganography is the art and science of hiding information in inconspicuous cover data so that even the existence of a secret message is kept confidential, and steganalysis is the task of detecting secret messages in covers. This research monograph focuses on the role of cover signals, the distinguishing feature that requires us to treat steganography and steganalysis differently from other secrecy techniques. The main theoretical contribution of this book is a proposal to structure approaches to provably secure steganography according to their implied assumptions on the limits of the adversary and on the nature of covers. A further contribution is the emphasis on dealing with heterogeneity in cover distributions, crucial for security analyses. The author's work complements earlier approaches based on information, complexity, probability and signal processing theory, and he presents numerous practical implications. The scientific advances are supported by a survey of the classical steganography literature; a new proposal for a unified terminology and notation that is maintained throughout this book; a critical discussion of the results achieved and their limitations; and an assessment of the possibility of transferring elements of this research's empirical perspective to other domains in information security. This book is suitable for researchers working in cryptography and information security, practitioners in the corporate and national security domains, and graduate students specializing in multimedia security and data hiding Steganography is the art and science of hiding information in inconspicuous cover data so that even the existence of a secret message is kept confidential, and steganalysis is the task of detecting secret messages in covers. This research monograph focuses on the role of cover signals, the distinguishing feature that requires us to treat steganography and steganalysis differently from other secrecy techniques. The main theoretical contribution of the book is a proposal to structure approaches to provably secure steganography according to their implied assumptions on the limits of the adversary and on the nature of covers. A further contribution is the emphasis on dealing with heterogeneity in cover distributions, crucial for security analyses. The author's work complements earlier approaches based on information, complexity, probability and signal processing theory, and he presents numerous practical implications. The scientific advances are supported by a survey of the classical steganography literature; a new proposal for a unified terminology and notation that is maintained throughout the book; a critical discussion of the results achieved and their limitations; and an assessment of the possibility of transferring elements of this research's empirical perspective to other domains in information security. The book is suitable for researchers working in cryptography and information security, practitioners in the corporate and national security domains, and graduate students specializing in multimedia security and data hiding. "This book covers newly developed and novel Steganography techniques and algorithms. The book outlines techniques to provide security to a variety of applications using Steganography, with the goal of both hindering an adversary from decoding a hidden message, and also preventing an adversary from suspecting the existence of covert communications. The book looks into applying these newly designed and improved algorithms to provide a new and efficient Steganographic system, called Characteristic Region-Based Image Steganography (CR-BIS). The algorithms combine both the robustness of the Speeded-Up Robust Features technique (SURF) and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) to achieve characteristic region Steganography synchronization. The book also touches on how to avoid hiding data in the whole image by dynamically selecting characteristic regions for the process of embedding. Applies and discusses innovative techniques for hiding text in a digital image file or even using it as a key to the encryption;Provides a variety of methods to achieve characteristic region Steganography synchronization;Shows how Steganography improves upon cryptography by using obscurity features."-- Provided by publisher How does society function when you can't trust everyone? When we think about trust, we naturally think about personal relationships or bank vaults. That's too narrow. Trust is much broader, and much more important. Nothing in society works without trust. It's the foundation of communities, commerce, democracy--everything. In this insightful and entertaining book, Schneier weaves together ideas from across the social and biological sciences to explain how society induces trust. He shows how trust works and fails in social settings, communities, organizations, countries, and the world. In today's hyper-connected society, understanding the mechanisms of trust is as important as understanding electricity was a century ago. Issues of trust and security are critical to solving problems as diverse as corporate responsibility, global warming, and our moribund political system. After reading Liars and Outliers, you'll think about social problems, large and small, differently Standard cryptography locks information in a mathematical safe and many governments, corporations, and citizens of the Net are quickly embracing it to protect their privacy. But traditional algorithms like DES won't protect you against an active attack that jams a transmission, diverts an e-mail message, or erases some files. The disappearing cryptography (a.k.a. steganography) in this book is the solution. The algorithms show how to make information invisible. If you don't know it's there, you can't find it. Each chapter in the book is divided into three sections. The first approaches the topic with humor, the second offers a general introduction, and the third provides a complete technical solution. Topics covered include: - Hiding information in photographs - Disguising data as innocent text - Anonymous remailers - Completely Secure Transfer In today's hyper-connected society, understanding the mechanisms of trust is crucial. Issues of trust are critical to solving problems as diverse as corporate responsibility, global warming, and the political system. In this insightful and entertaining book, Schneier weaves together ideas from across the social and biological sciences to explain how society induces trust. He shows the unique role of trust in facilitating and stabilizing human society. He discusses why and how trust has evolved, why it works the way it does, and the ways the information society is changing everything. - Publisher. A note for readers Overview Part 1 : The science of trust. A natural history of security The evolution of cooperation A social history of trust Societal dilemmas Part 2 : A model of trust. Societal pressures Moral pressures Reputational pressures Institutional pressures Security systems Part 3 : The real world. Competing interests Organizations Corporations Institutions Part 4 : Conclusions. How societal pressures fail Technological advances The future The bestselling first edition of "Disappearing Cryptography" was known as the best introduction to information hiding. This fully revised and expanded second edition describes a number of different techniques that people can use to hide information, such as encryption. Argues society requires trust in order to function, describes how society creates and maintains that trust through societal pressures, and discusses what happens when those pressures fail.