Security of the secret information has been a challenge when the large amount of data is exchanged on the internet. A secure transfer of information can be very much achieved by steganography and Cryptography. Steganography is a tool for hiding information inside an image. Cryptography is a tool which provides encryption techniques for secure communication. This paper presents a survey on various steganograpgy techniques along with other techniques used in the literature from 2003-2013. Several different techniques are mentioned with their benefits, limitations, year of publication and their authors. 65 papers were selected after content filtering out of more than 150 papers. LSB (least significant bits) technique was mostly used, while MSB (most significant bits) technique was very less used. There were also several other techniques used such as SSHDT, RSTEG, DCT, DWT, LWT etc... in various papers. Combined techniques of steganography and cryptography were also used in some papers. The survey results show that the steganogarph has played a very beneficial role in various applications. It increased the level of information security with a wide use of its techniques. It would be very useful and provide a better platform for the beginners who want to work in steganography. By analyzing the existing techniques more new techniques can be developed.
Sandeep Singh : Department of Computer Science Engineering, Lovely Professional University
Phagwara, Punjab, India
Aman Singh : Department of Computer Science Engineering, Lovely Professional University
Phagwara, Punjab, India
Steganography
Cryptography
LSB
GLM
Distortion techniques
Visual Steganography
OPA
This paper presents a literature review on various steganography techniques from 2003 to 2013. The search was made by using keywords: steganography, steganography techniques, steganography methods, steganography detection, steganography algorithm, etc. It is concluded that at the starting period of 2003 researchers showed least interest in steganography but as time passes the level of their interest raises, in 2012 and 2013 researchers shown much interest It was also seen that most of the papers used the LSB technique, especially in 2012 and 2013 maximum papers are based on LSB steganography technique, also some researchers used some cryptographic techniques along with steganography techniques and several other techniques were also used.This study may provide some prior knowledge to the beginners who want to work in steganography. By examining advantages and limitations of the existing techniques one can generate a better techniques or can used in some different ways or can improved the existing one. As the research in
the field of steganography is an ongoing process. It will set a better platform for the beginners. By going through this survey paper beginners surely get some ideas for the future research in steganography.
[1] F. I Alam, and M. M Islam,”An investigation into image hiding steganography with digital signature framework,” Informatics, Electronics & Vision (ICIEV), 2013 international conference on 17-18 May 2013, page(s):1-6.
[2] W. W Zin, and T. N Soe,” Implementation and analysis of three steganographic approaches,” Computer research and development (ICCRD), 2011 3rd international conference on (Volume: 2) 11-13 March 2011, page(s):456-460.
[3] S. Thenmozhi, and M. Chandrasekaran,” A novel technique for image steganography using nonlinear chaotic map,” Intelligent systems and control (ISCO), 2013 7th international conference on 4-5 Jan. 2013,page(s):307-311.
[4] M. K Ramaiya, N. Hemrajani, and A. K Saxena,” Improvisation of security aspect in steganography applying DES,” Communication systems and network technologies (CSNT), 2013 international conference on 6-8 April 2013, page(s):431-436.
[5] Y. J Chanu, T. Tuithung, and K. M Singh,” A short survey on image steganography and steganalysis techniques,” Emerging trends and applications in computer science (NCETACS), 2012 3rd national conference on 30-31 March 2012,page(s):52-55.
[6] S. Mahato,D. K Yadav, and D. A Khan,” A modified approach to text steganography using hypertext markup language,” Advanced computing and communication technologies (ACCT), 2013 third international conference on 6-7 April 2013, page(s):40-44.
[7] R. Jose, and G. Abraham, ”A separable reversible data hiding in encrypted image with improved performance, ”Emerging research areas and 2013 international conference on microelectronics, communications and renewable energy (AICERA/ICMiCR), 2013 annual international conference on 4-6 June 2013,page(s):1-5.
[8] S Usha, G A Kumal, and K Boopathybagan, ”A secure triple level encryption method using cryptography and steganography, ”Computer science and network technology (ICCSNT), 2011 international conference on (Volume:2 ) 24-26 Dec. 2011,page(s):1017-1020.
[9] P. Kadam, A. Kandhare, M. Nawale, and M. Patil, ”Separable reversible encrypted data hiding in encrypted image using AES algorithm and lossy technique, ”Pattern recognition, Informatics and medical engineering (PRIME), 2013 international conference on 21-22 Feb. 2013,page(s):312-316.
[10] S. P. Bansod, V. M. Mane, and L. R. Ragha,” Modified BPCS steganography using hybrid cryptography for improving data embedding capacity,” Communication, information & computing technology (ICCICT), 2012 international conference on 19-20 Oct. 2012,page(s):1-6.
[11] Y. Zheng, F. Liu, X. Luo, and C. Yang, ”A method based on feature matching to identify steganography software, ”Multimedia information networking and security (MINES), 2012 fourth international conference on 2-4 Nov. 2012,page(s):989-994.
[12] S. Manoharan, ”Steganalysis of synthetic low-colour images, ”Information theory and its applications (ISITA), 2012 international symposium on 28-31 Oct. 2012,page(s):784-788.
[13] J. Yang, and S. Pingzhong, ”A JPEG image blind steganography detection method using KCCA feature fusion, ”Wavelet analysis and pattern recognition (ICWAPR), 2012 international conference on 15-17 July 2012,page(s):222-226.
[14] Y. F. Zhou, W. W.Y.NG, and Z. M. He,”Effects of double JPEG compression on steganalysis, ”Wavelet analysis and pattern recognition (ICWAPR), 2012 international conference on 15-17 July 2012,page(s):106-112.
[15] S. F. Mare, M. Vladutiu, and L. Prodan,”High capacity steganographic algorithm based on payload adaptation and optimization,”Applied computational intelligence and informatics (SACI), 2012 7th IEEE international symposium on 24-26 May 2012,page(s):87-92.
[16] J. Zhai, G. Liu, and Y. Dai, ”An improved retransmission steganography and its detection algorithm, ”Multimedia information networking and security (MINES), 2011 third international conference on 4-6 Nov. 2011,page(s):628-632.
[17] F. Zhou, R. Yang, Z. Zheng, and J. He, ”Steganography in multimedia messaging service of mobile intelligent terminal, ”Image and signal processing (CISP), 2012 5th international congress on 16-18 Oct. 2012,page(s):1340-1343.
[18] H. Motamedi, and A. Jafari, ”A new image steganography based on denoising methods in wavelet domain, ”Information security and cryptology (ISCISC), 2012 9th international ISC conference on 13-14 Sept. 2012,page(s):18-25.
[19] H. S. M. Reddy, N Sathisha, A. Kumad, and K. B. Raja, ”Secure steganography using hybrid domain technique, ”Computing communication & networking technologies (ICCCNT), 2012 third international conference on 26-28 July 2012,page(s):1-11.
[20] M. Talip, A. Jamal, and G. W. Qiang, ”A proposed steganography method to uyghur script, ”Cyber-enabled distributed computing and knowledge discovery (CyberC), 2012 international conference on 10-12 Oct. 2012,page(s):125-128.
[21] S. Das, P. Bandyopadhyay, Prof. A. Chaudhuri and Dr. M. Banerjee, ”A secured key-based digital text passing system through color image pixels, ”Advances in engineering, science and management (ICAESM), 2012 international conference on 30-31 March 2012,page(s):320-325.
[22] S. Premkumar, and A. E. Narayanan, ”New visual steganography scheme for secure banking application, ”Computing, electronics and electrical technologies (ICCEET), 2012 international conference on 21-22 March 2012,page(s): 1013-1016.
[23] J. Fridrich, and J. Kodovsky ,”Rich models for steganalysis of digital images, ”Information forensics and security, IEEE transactions on (Volume:7 , Issue: 3 ) June 2012,page(s):868-882.
[24] T. Pevny, J. Fridrich, and A. D. Ker, ”From blind to quantitative steganalysis, ”Information forensics and security, IEEE transactions on (Volume:7 , Issue: 2 ) April 2012,page(s):445-454.
[25] J. K. Mandal, and S. Ghatak, ” Secret image/message transmission through meaningful shares using (2, 2) visual cryptography (SITMSVC), ”Recent trends in information technology (ICRTIT), 2011 international conference on 3-5 June 2011,page(s):263-268.
[26] C.R Geetha, S. Basavaraju, and Dr. C. Puttamadappa, ”Variable load image steganography using multiple edge detection and minimum error replacement method, ”Information & communication technologies (ICT), 2013 IEEE conference on 11-12 April 2013,page(s):53-58.
[27] A. Danti, and G. R. Manjula, ”Secured data hiding of invariant sized secrete image based on discrete and hybrid wavelet transform, ”Computational intelligence & computing research (ICCIC), 2012 IEEE international conference on 18-20 Dec. 2012,page(s):1-6.
[28] Dr. D. Samidha, and D. Agrawal, ”Random image steganography in spatial domain, ”Emerging trends in VLSI, embedded system, nano electronics and telecommunication system (ICEVENT), 2013 international conference on 7-9 Jan. 2013,page(s):1-3.
[29] A. Sanchez, A. Conci, E. Zeljkovic, N. Behlilovic, and V. Karahodzic, ”A new approach to relatively short message steganography, ”Telecommunications (BIHTEL), 2012 IX international symposium on 25-27 Oct. 2012,page(s):1-4.
[30] G. K. Seivi, L. Mariadhasan, and K. L. Shunmuganathan, ”Steganography using edge adaptive image, ”Computing, electronics and electrical technologies (ICCEET), 2012 international conference on 21-22 March 2012,page(s):1023-1027.
[31] B. Jankowski, W. Mazurczyk, and K. Szczypiorski, ”Information hiding using improper frame padding, ”Telecommunications network strategy and planning symposium (NETWORKS), 2010 14th international conference on 27-30 Sept. 2010,page(s):1-6.
[32] A. Cheddad, J. Condell, K. Curran, and P. M. Kevitt, ”Towards objectifying information hiding, ”Acoustics speech and signal processing (ICASSP), 2010 IEEE international conference on 14-19 March 2010,page(s):1770-1773.
[33] M. Afrakhteh, and S, Ibrahim,”Enhanced least significant bit scheme robust against chi-squared attack,”Mathematical/analytical modelling and computer simulation (AMS), 2010 fourth asia international conference on 26-28 May 2010,page(s):286-290.
[34] Y. Sun, and F. Liu, ”Selecting cover for image steganography by correlation coefficient, ”Education technology and computer science (ETCS), 2010 second international workshop on (Volume:2 ) 6-7 March 2010,page(s):159-162.
[35] K. Szczypiorski,”A performance analysis of HICCUPS – a steganographic system for WLAN,”Multimedia information networking and security, 2009. MINES '09. International conference on (Volume: 1) 18-20 Nov. 2009, page(s):569-572.
[36] QI Ke, X. D. qing, and Z. D. fang, ”An adaptive high-capacity steganographic algorithm for 3D models, ”Information technology and computer science, 2009. ITCS 2009. international conference on (Volume:1 ) 25-26 July 2009,page(s):162-166.
[37] A. Almohammad, G. Ghinea, and R. M. Hierons,”JPEG steganography:a performance evaluation of quantization tables, ”Advanced information networking and applications, 2009. AINA '09. International conference on 26-29 May 2009,page(s):471-478.
[38] R. O. E Safy, H. H. Zayed, and A. E. Dessouki,”An adaptive steganographic technique based on integer wavelet transform,”Networking and media convergence, 2009. ICNM 2009. International conference on 24-25 March 2009, page(s):111-117.
[39] S. Geetha, S. S. S. Sindhu, and N. Kamaraj,”Stego-breaker:Defeating the steganographic systems through genetic-X-means approach using image muality Metrics, ”Advanced computing and communications, 2008. ADCOM 2008. 16th international conference on 14-17 Dec. 2008,page(s):382-391.
[40] M. C.Chen, S. S. Agaian, C. L. P. Chen, and B. M. Rodriguez,”Steganography detection using RBFNN,”Machine learning and cybernetics, 2008 international conference on (Volume:7 ) 12-15 July 2008,page(s):3720-3725.
[41] B. Ryabko, and D. Ryabko,”Information-theoretic approach to steganographic systems,”Information theory, 2007. ISIT 2007. IEEE international symposium on 24-29 June 2007, page(s):2461-2464.
[42] Y. Wang, and P. Moulin,”Perfectly secure steganography: Capacity, error exponents, and code constructions,”Information theory, IEEE transactions on (Volume: 54, Issue: 6) June 2008, page(s):2706-2722.
[43] R. Böhme, and C. Keiler,”On the security of “A steganographic scheme for secure communications based on the chaos and the euler theorem,”Multimedia, IEEE transactions on (Volume:9 , Issue: 6 ) Oct. 2007,page(s):1325-1329.
[44] K B Raja, Vikas, K. R. Venugopal, and L. M. Patnaik,”High capacity lossless secure image steganography using wavelets,”Advanced computing and communications, 2006. ADCOM 2006. International conference on 20-23 Dec. 2006, page(s):230-235.
[45] Z. Deng, X. Shao, and Z. Yang,”A novel approach to detect the presence of LSB steganographic messages,”Software engineering, artificial intelligence, networking, and parallel/distributed computing, 2007. SNPD 2007. eighth ACIS international conference on (Volume:3 ) July 30 2007-Aug. 1 2007,page(s):404-408.
[46] S. S. Agaian, and R. C. Cherukuri,”Adaptive steganographic system for binary images using variable block embedding rate,”Systems, man and cybernetics, 2006. SMC '06. IEEE international conference on (Volume: 3) 8-11 Oct. 2006,page(s):1879-1883.
[47] Y. Q. Shi, C. Chen, W. Chen, and M. P. Kaundinya,”Effect of recompression on attacking JPEG steganographic schemes - An experimental study,”Circuits and systems, 2007. ISCAS 2007. IEEE international symposium on 27-30 May 2007, page(s):1265-1268.
[48] A. Savoldi, and P. Gubian,”Data hiding in SIM/USIM cards: A steganographic approach,”Systematic approaches to digital forensic engineering, 2007. SADFE 2007. second international workshop on 10-12 April 2007,page(s):86-100.
[49] X. Zhang, and S. Wang,”Ef?cient steganographic embedding by exploiting modi?cation direction, “Communications (Volume:10 , Issue: 11 ) November 2006,page(s):781-783.
[50] M. Niimi, H. Noda, and B. Segee,” A robust BPCS-steganography against the visual attack,”Information, communications and signal processing, 2005 fifth international conference,page(s):1116-1120.
[51] X. Kong, Z. Wang, and X. You,”Steganalysis of palette images: Attack optimal parity assignment algorithm,”Information, communications and signal processing, 2005 fifth international conference,page(s):860-864.
[52] K. B. Raja, C. R. Chowdary, K. R. Venugopal, and L. M. Patnaik,”A secure image steganography using LSB, DCT and Compression techniques on raw images, “Intelligent 14-17 Dec. 2005, page(s):170-176.
[53] Y. T. Wu, and F. Y. Shih,”Genetic algorithm based methodology for breaking the steganalytic systems,”Systems, man, and cybernetics, part B: Cybernetics, IEEE transactions on (Volume: 36, Issue: 1 ) Feb. 2006,page(s):24-31.
[54] X. Luo, B. Liu, and F. Liu,” Detecting LSB steganography based on dynamic masks, “Intelligent 8-10 Sept. 2005,page(s):251-255.
[55] A. Martín, G. Sapiro, and G. Seroussi,”Is image steganography natural?,”Image processing, IEEE transactions on (Volume:14 , Issue: 12 ) Dec. 2005,page(s):2040-2050.
[56] A. Adli and Z. Nakao,”Three steganography algorithms for MIDI files,”Machine learning and cybernetics, 2005. Proceedings of 2005 international conference on (Volume:4 ) 18-21 Aug. 2005,page(s):2401-2404.
[57] H. Dou, H. Zhang, and S. Zhan,”Independent components analysis applied to steganalysis,”Signal processing, 2004. Proceedings. ICSP '04. 2004 7th international conference on (Volume: 3) 31 Aug.-4 Sept. 2004, page(s):2498-2501.
[58] M. A. Khan,V. Potdar, and E. Chang,” An architecture platform for grey level modification steganography system,” Industrial electronics society, 2004. IECON 2004. 30th annual conference of IEEE (Volume:1 ) 2-6 Nov. 2004,page(s):463-471.
[59] X. G. Sui, and H. Lilo, ”A new .steganography method based on hypertext, “Radio 24-27 Aug. 2004,page(s):181-184.
[60] M. Jiang, N. Memon, E. Wong, and X. Wu, ”Quantitative steganalysis of binary images,” Image processing, 2004. ICIP '04. 2004 international conference on (Volume: 1) 24-27 Oct. 2004,page(s):29-32.
[61] V. M. Potdar, and E. Chang, ”Grey level modification steganography for secret communication,” Industrial informatics, 2004. INDIN '04. 2004 2nd IEEE international conference on 26-26 June 2004, page(s):223-228.
[62] S. M. Ashar, T. M. Shah, and R. Khalid,”Message encryption with image processing,”Multi topic conference, 2003. INMIC 2003. 7th international 9-9 Dec. 2003, page(s):7-15.
[63] L. Zhi, and S. A. Fen, ”Detection of random LSB image steganography,” Vehicular technology conference, 2004. VTC2004-Fall. 2004 IEEE 60th (Volume:3 ) 26-29 Sept. 2004,page(s):2113-2117.
[64] S. Trivedi, and R. Chandramouli, ”Secret key estimation in sequential steganography,” Signal processing, IEEE transactions on (Volume:53 , Issue: 2 ) Feb. 2005,page(s):746-757.
[65] A. H. Sung, G. R. Tadiparthi, and S. Mukkamala, ”Defeating the current steganalysis techniques (Robust Steganography),” Information technology: Coding and computing, 2004. Proceedings. ITCC 2004. International conference on (Volume:1 ) 5-7 April 2004, page(s):440-444.
