Using Image Stenography Technique to Obscure Information From Unauthorized Users- a Case Study of Smartware Solutions Ltd.

Abstract

Steganography is the art and science of invisible communication, which plays a vital role in information security. With the rise of the Internet, one of the most fundamental factors is the security of information. It involves hiding the fact that communication is taking place, by providing a method of writing hidden information in such a way that no one, apart from the sender and intended recipient, suspects the existence of the message, a form of security through obscurity. Steganography is usually implemented computationally, where cover works are tweaked in such a way that a secret message can be embedded within them. In order to embed secret data in a cover message, the cover must contain a sufficient amount of redundant data or noise. This is because in the embedding process steganography actually replaces this redundant data with the secret message. In image steganography, the information is hidden exclusively in images. An information hiding tool based on steganography technique that was developed to hide and retrieve information. The tool was deployed to an ICT security firm where clients gave their user input after interacting with the technique. Testing and evaluation of the tool was carried out by encrypting and decrypting information. Requirement gathering and analysis was carried out by using the findings from the case study to determine the requirements. The design was done using requirement specifications and analysis where a tool was selected based on the selected framework. Implementation was carried out by engaging a system in day-to-day business or organization's operations. Various tests were carried out and deployment of the tool was done by putting into use. Maintenance was also carried out to guarantee robustness. The tool was able to meet the majority of information hiding requirements which included perceptual transparency, payload capacity, robustness and computational complexity. This method was considered valuable because apart from hiding information with a high threshold, it was also able to hide files regardless of the format. The majority of the ICT consultants had interacted with data hiding tools, mediums, domains and techniques, hence simplifying the study because they were able to make immense contributions pertaining to the improvement of the steganography tool. On testing, the technique was positively accepted by the ICT consultants together with the end users with a utility and usability scores of 76.59% and 71.67% respectively