What does steganography mean?
Steganography is the art and science of hiding information within another medium. A message may be concealed in a digital image, sound recording, video, document, or other carrier, with the result appearing ordinary or innocuous to someone who does not know how the hidden data is encoded. Its central purpose is concealment: unlike cryptography, which obscures the content of a message, steganography seeks to conceal the message’s presence. The term is used in computing, digital forensics, watermarking, and information security, as well as in discussions of historical communication and counter-surveillance. Modern techniques often combine steganography with encryption so that the hidden information is both difficult to detect and difficult to read without the appropriate key. Detecting concealed data requires specialized steganalysis techniques.
nounThe practice of concealing information within other seemingly harmless data, such as an image, audio file, or video. The hidden information can be extracted by someone who knows the concealment method and, when applicable, the appropriate key.
- The practice of hiding information inside another medium, especially digital images, audio, video, or text.
"The researchers used steganography to hide a warning message inside a digital photograph."
"The forensic team identified steganography hidden in a batch of seemingly ordinary photographs."
"Embedding a watermark in an image is a common application of steganography."
The plural is possible but uncommon; the word is usually used in the singular as a name for the practice or technique.
"The course examines different approaches to digital steganographies."
The ancient Greeks were masters of hidden messages: Herodotus described a message tattooed on a slave’s scalp, an early form of steganography.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does steganography come from?
Steganography comes from Greek steganos, meaning “covered” or “concealed,” and graphein, meaning “to write.” The word therefore literally refers to concealed writing. Its modern technical sense developed in connection with the concealment of messages, while related English words such as steganographic and steganographically preserve the same Greek roots.
Related word forms
How steganography is actually used
The term is usually formal and technical. In computing and information security, it is distinguished from cryptography: steganography aims to conceal the existence of a message, while cryptography aims to make a message unintelligible.
Easily confused with steganography
Cryptography protects information by making it unreadable without a key, whereas steganography conceals the information so that its presence is not readily apparent.