WhoIsFawaz
StegoCrypt: Hiding Secrets in Plain Sight🛡️✨

StegoCrypt: Hiding Secrets in Plain Sight🛡️✨

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Fawaz
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4 min read

Table of contents

Introduction

Hello Everyone! Welcome to StegoCrypt, a project that lets you hide anything—yes, literally anything—inside text, images, audio, and video files. From confidential documents to memes, StegoCrypt transforms data into an invisible secret that only you can retrieve. It’s like your personal spy toolkit 🕵️‍♂️, but with less danger and more Python!

In this blog, I’ll show you how my team and I built StegoCrypt, the tech behind it, and how you can use it to add an extra layer of secrecy to your digital communications.

Prerequisites 🛠️

Before we start, here’s what you’ll need:

  • Python 3.9+ installed on your machine.

  • Familiarity with basic Python libraries and GUI apps.

  • Enthusiasm for nerdy projects! 😎

git clone https://github.com/WhoIsFawaz/StegoCrypt.git 
cd StegoCrypt  
pip install pillow numpy opencv-python pygame

Developments 🚀

StegoCrypt isn’t just a project; it’s a gateway into the fascinating world of steganography. Each medium—text, images, audio, and video—offers unique opportunities to conceal data while maintaining the integrity and appearance of the original file. Here's how each medium works in detail:

Text Steganography 📝

StegoCrypt uses zero-width characters (like \u200B and \u200C) to embed secrets invisibly within plain text. These characters take no visual space, making the hidden message completely undetectable to the human eye.

  • How It Works:
    The tool converts your secret message into a binary format. It then replaces specific parts of the text with a sequence of zero-width characters that encode the binary data.

  • Use Case:

    • Send secret messages hidden within harmless-looking text (like emails or notes).

    • Works seamlessly with most text editors and platforms.

  • Example:
    Input Text: "Hello World!"
    Encoded Text: "Hello​World!" (looks identical but carries hidden data)

Image Steganography 🖼️

Images are perfect for hiding data because they are rich in visual data. StegoCrypt embeds files directly into the pixels of an image while preserving its visual quality.

  • How It Works:

    • StegoCrypt modifies the least significant bits (LSB) of pixel values to store your secret data. Since the changes are minute, the human eye cannot detect them.

    • Works best with PNG images because of their lossless compression.

  • Use Case:

    • Store confidential documents or messages inside images.

    • Share encoded images on social media without raising suspicion.

  • Example:

    • Original Image: A 500x500 PNG of a landscape.

    • Encoded Image: Same PNG visually, but secretly contains a 50 KB worth of text payload hidden inside.

Audio Steganography 🎵

Audio files can also act as carriers for hidden data, and StegoCrypt allows you to embed secrets into .wav files without distorting the sound quality.

  • How It Works:

    • The payload is encoded into the least significant bits (LSB) of the audio sample data.

    • StegoCrypt ensures that these modifications do not affect the audible range of frequencies.

  • Use Case:

    • Share encoded audio files as emails, voice notes, or even as part of a music playlist.

    • Secure sensitive data in a way that sounds normal to listeners.

  • Example:

    • Original File: A 3-minute .wav audio clip.

    • Encoded File: The .wav file sounds identical but secretly contains a document.

Video Steganography 🎥

Videos offer a large capacity for hiding data due to their size and complexity. StegoCrypt can encode payloads within video frames for maximum security.

  • How It Works:

    • The tool processes individual frames of a video, modifying their pixel values to store data.

    • Since videos are a series of frames, they can accommodate much larger payloads compared to images or audio.

  • Use Case:

    • Share sensitive information hidden in video files.

    • Useful for secure transmission of larger payloads.

  • Example:

    • Original File: A 10-second .mp4 clip.

    • Encoded File: The .mp4 file plays exactly the same but contains a 500 KB file hidden within.

Outcome✨

Each steganography type in StegoCrypt has been designed with user flexibility and data security in mind, making it a versatile tool for anyone looking to hide data discreetly. Choose your medium and let StegoCrypt handle the rest!

Building StegoCrypt was an exhilarating journey, combining the best of Python, creativity, and security. We hope you find it as fun and useful as we do!

Feel free to explore the GitHub repository for the full code and additional details. Happy benchmarking! 🚀

As always, here is the image dump !!!

steg analysissteganography