An Analysis of Effectiveness of StegoAppDB and Data Hiding Efficiency of StegHide Image Steganography Tools

Steganography is a method and technique of concealing existence of communication by embedding secret messages in digital media such as images, videos, electronic books and audio files. Steganographic techniques can be applied in several different ways. On one hand, people can benefit from their use. For example, the steganographic techniques can be used to protect copyright. On the other hand, the techniques can be used for malicious reasons. The steganography can be used to conceal parts of a ransomware attack or for delivering a malicious JavaScript. Steganalysis is a practice and approach to detect coded messages using visual perception, mathematical analysis, or other methods. Detection methods of steganalysis can be divided into two categories: specific steganalysis and universal steganalysis. The specific detection methods deal with the planned steganographic systems (algorithms), while the general detection methods provide recognition irrespective of what the steganographic systems are. This paper primarily focuses on calculating the data hiding efficiency of the steganographic tool Steghide 0.5.1 and StegoAppDB dataset images. This study also analyzes the performance of different embedding techniques and well-known encryption algorithms (AES, DES, 3DES, RC2) with several modes of operation (CBC, CFB, CTR, ECB, OFB) and how they impact the PSNR.