Black hats use this same technique for other media files, such as videos and audio. They also use this technique to inject malware into the drives and documents. A small bit of malware is scattered in different spots throughout the drive and files. Sometimes, a whole large partition is concealed on the hard drive. Users seldom notice such sophisticated programs running in their system. Once these files are synced into your device, they run their malicious operations to infect other files and smuggle stored data to outsiders.
Different Types Of Steganography
There are different types of steganography techniques that black hats use to conceal malware and small malicious codes. Here are some key examples of Steganography and their descriptions.
Text
It involves the process of hiding secret messages within the text documents. It is a subtle art in which characters are encoded in the seemingly normal text.
Image
This type of Steganography involves the process of hiding codes within the digital images. It is done by altering the colour values or injecting data within the file. It is done in a way that makes it imperceptible to the human eye.
Video
It involves concealing the data in the digital video files. In this process, frames are modified, audio tracks are changed, and data is embedded in the metadata without affecting the visual or auditory quality of the video.
Audio
In this type, information is concealed in the audio files. These files can be MP3s or WAVs. Audio files are engineered in these files using waveforms. Due to this, recognizing these files becomes impossible for the users.
Network
In this form of data-concealing process, the malicious information is hidden in the device network. These data packets remain completely hidden and undetected. Due to this, it infiltrates the device and runs its operations under your nose.
What is the Difference Between Cryptography & Steganography?
Cryptography is a form of encryption that is used to protect messages by encoding them in an encrypted file. When these files are shared, they remain protected and locked. It will need a key to decrypt the files. But it does not mean that it will remain hidden from everyone. Instead, the file will be visible, but the system will not be able to read it because it will be encrypted.
On the other hand, Steganography uses sneaky tactics to hide the information in a file in a way that it is in front of your eyes, but you will not be able to see or detect it. It is not concealed, and data is not encrypted in these types of files. Rather, it is a subtle art of hiding, injecting, and scattering one file or code in the main file to avoid detection and recognition.
How Do Cybercriminals Use Steganography?
Cyber attackers use Steganography as a means to conceal malicious codes, data, sensitive info, or communications in seemingly innocuous files. They use different techniques to launch and infect your digital devices. Here are some examples that elaborate on this point further.
Hiding Malware
Black hats hide and embed the malware within image, video, audio, and document files. When you receive these files, they look harmless, neat, and clean. But when you analyze them closely, it becomes clear that is not the case. They are injected and synced with malicious codes and harmful software that modify your critical files and steal the data.
Hidden Communication
Cyberpunks often communicate with your PC without letting you have any idea about it. They embed secret messages and commands in seemingly harmless media files. Once these messages and codes are in your system, they contact the controller who runs them from the outside. Using this technique, they spy and transmit the information from one end to the other.
Exfiltrating Data
Attackers use various methods to exfiltrate sensitive data from compromised systems. First, they inject and infiltrate the malicious software into the system files and folders. After this, they start all the information one by one from your PC. This sneaky technique helps them avoid detection and bypass system monitoring and network firewalls. As a result, black hats extract all the info from the compromised PC without being noticed.
Watermarking Attacks
It is a highly tricky way that cybercriminals use to place some malware code or virus bit into a file. Watermarking is a hidden signature that is highly difficult to track or detect in a file. It is used to track the activities and sources of leaked information, tracking and spying.
Bypassing Identification
Online bad actors use Steganography to avoid identification and detection from the security tools and techniques that are synced into the computer system. They use deceptive and legitimate-looking files to operate stealthily and, most specifically, bypass the identification. The unique patterns they use for hiding the files are so manipulative that most advanced heuristic and pattern analysis security software fails to recognize the threats.
Hiding Harmful Files on Websites
There are lots of websites that are tampered with to hide malicious software and files that are infected with viruses. When you visit such sites, malicious software and viruses automatically enter your system and spread to other parts of the system. Over time, it establishes complete control over the computer and creates a channel to transmit the info to outside resources.
