Researchers detect secret files lurking within digital images
May 24, 2006  Keeping computer files private requires only the
use of a simple encryption program. For criminals or terrorists
wanting to conceal their activities, however, attaching an
encrypted file to an e-mail message is sure to raise suspicion
with law enforcement or government agents monitoring e-mail
traffic.  But what if files could be hidden within the complex
digital code of a photographic image? A family snapshot, for
example, could contain secret information and even a trained eye
wouldn't know the difference.  That ability to hide files within
another file, called steganography, is here thanks to a number
of software programs now on the market. The emerging science of
detecting such files – steganalysis – is getting a boost from
the Midwest Forensics Resource Center at the U.S. Department of
Energy's Ames Laboratory and a pair of Iowa State University
researchers.  Electronic images, such as jpeg files, provide the
perfect "cover" bec