What's New
Note: Some of the links to the sites on this page might be broken as these sites are often hosted on free, personal or unreliable servers.
2006-01-28
Steganos Security Suite 2006 (16.4 mb) Commercialware $49.95 (upgrade $24.95)
The Steganos Security Suite is a complete, easy to use security suite that uses strong encyption and steganographic techniques to hide data in image and music files. Steganos Safe protects your sensitive data - it serves as your encrypted hard disk. You open the safe with a password, USB stick or your ActiveSync-capable SmartPhone: via Bluetooth or even wireless. Laptop lost or stolen? With Steganos AntiTheft, you increase your chance of restoring it. Your valuable data will definitely not be accessible. USB sticks, too, can be turned into portable safes: now even rewritable. Steganos AntiSpyware reliably removes about 100,000 pest programs like Adware and Spyware. Steganos Shredder destroys sensitive data without a trace - even retroactively, if necessary. For free: Updates for Steganos Security Suite are available for free within a generation. Spyware database updates are included for 1 year.
StegoVideo (0.1 mb) Freeware
MSU StegoVideo allows to hide any file in a videosequence. When the program was created, different popular codecs were analyzed and an algorithm was chosen which provides small data loss after video compression. You can use MSU StegoVideo as VirtualDub filter or as standalone .exe program, independent from VirtualDub.
StegaNote (2.2 mb) Freeware
StegaNote 2.0 uses the crypto-secure Random Pxel Positioning in the LSB's from the RGB values, coordinates generated by the ULTRA algorithm, used as PRNG in feedback mode. Easy to use by drag and drop and a very easy and clear user interface. No fance stuff or graphics, just solid protection! Includes is a very complete helpfile.
StegoMagic (0.7 mb) Freeware
Hides any kind of file or message in TEXT, WAV , BMP 24 bit and BMP 256 colour files with no change in the file size of the carrier medium except when text file is the carrier medium. Encrypted with a password using DES (for additional protection). The data to be hidden must be approximately 1/8th of carrier file size or less, though there is no file size restriction for text file carrier files. User friendly gui provided. Runs on all Microsoft Windows versions.
SecurEngine Professional 1.0 (2.8 mb) Freeware
Use to encrypt any file or folder in a single compressed and encrypted archive with 4 algorithms :AES, BlowFish, Gost, triple-DES. You can also create a SDA (self-decrypting archive), hide confidential file in a BMP, GIF, PNG pictures and HTM files. A full and secure files and folders deletion (DOD 5220.22M norm) is integer. A blackboard will simplify your life if you encrypt and archive always same files and folders. An icon in the system tray will show a quick access in all functions of SecurEngine.
Revelation (750k) Freeware
A user friendly tool, written in Java, that works by altering the least significant bits LSB's of 24-bit bitmap images. As most of the data of a bitmap is encoded in the most significant bits, a few changes in the LSB's has little or no visable effect.
StegSpy Freeware
StegSpy allows identification of a “steganized” file. StegSpy will detect steganography and the program used to hide the message. The lastest version also identifies the location of the hidden content as well. StegSpy currently identifies the following programs: Hiderman, JPHideandSeek, Masker, JPegX, and Invisible Secrets.
2005-01-06
The website has been completely updated using CSS courtesy of FAzle AreFin!
Puff (452 kb) Freeware
Italian program with English help file that hides files in BMP, JPG, PCX, PNG, TGA, AIFF, MP3, NEXT/SUN, WAV, and Win PE modules. Includes 16 different encryption algorhythms.
bmpSteg (18 kb) Freeware
Java-based program that hides files in BMPs.
2004-10-07
Added Stego Machine (Java), Stegtunnel (Unix), Steganos Security Suite 7.0 (Win), wbStego4open (Win/Unix), Steganography 2.8 (Win), and CryptoBola (Win).
Updated StegoArchive CD.
2003-11-20
Steganos Security Suite 6 (11.6 mb) Commercialware $59.95 (upgrade $49.95)
The Steganos Security Suite is a complete, easy to use security suite that uses strong encyption and steganographic techniques to hide data in image and sound files. New - Portable Safe - take hidden drives and data with you on CD or DVD. It can be decrypted on any PC without additional software. Encrypts and hides up to 128 GB in seconds. Automatic crash protection just in case. Also comes with Internet Trace Destructor, file shredder, e-mail encryption, Outlook plug-in, password manager and computer locking. Available in English, German, Italian, French, and Spanish versions, Steganos just keeps getting better. Currently no demo available for download... buy before you try :(
SecurEngine 4.0 (2.5 mb) Freeware
SecurEngine is nice program that hides data in BMP, JPG, WAV, and txt files. Strong encryption, file wiping, password manager, and the ability to creat self-decrypting archives encluded. French and English versions available.
Hermetic Stego (1.7 mb) Shareware $25
Easy-to-use program which hides data in BMP images. Includes a stego key, which the authors claim makes detecting the presence of the hidden file is undetectable (even by forensic software using statistical methods).
Xidie (1.7 mb) Commercialware $50
Windows-based stego program for BMP, JPG, and WAV files. Encludes strong encryption and file shredder.
PhotoCrypt 1.1 (195 kb) Freeware
PhotoCrypt is a simple windows-based stego program which can hide a file in BMP images. The hidden file size may be up to 50% of the original BMP size.
2003-03-08
Added Invisible Secrets 4.0 and SecurEngine 2.0.
2003-02-04
Added Camera/Shy, Cameleon, CryptArkan, HideIT, Stego-Lame, and GifShuffle v2.0. Fix broken links on all software pages. I hope to fix broken links on the general info pages in the near future.
All programs on StegoArchive CD are updated as well.
2002-07-08
Added ImageHide, JpegX, InfoStego, The Third Eye, Steganos Security Suite 4, Stego Watch, StegDetect, and F5.
All (broken) download links have been updated.
2001-10-05
Too many new things to list. All download links have been updated (sorry they've been broken for so long. Check out Sam's Big Play Maker, new StegDetect GUI, Stella, StegMark and StegSafe demos, Courier, DataStash, DPT, InPlainView, and others.
I will have to get to the non-English page later. Please send me a note of you find any broken links you find in the mean time.
2001-04-26
BMP Secrets (2.0 mb) Freeware
BMP-based stego product for Windows with a decent interface and a very large hiding capacity (~60% of carrier file). Includes built-in encryption and ability to hide data within specific sub-areas of the image. Could use a button to clear prior entries and the unhide interface could be a bit more intuitive, but these are superficial issues which I suspect will be fixed in a future version. Worth checking out.
wbStego4 (1.1 mb) Shareware $20
BMP, TXT, HTML/XML, and PDF steganography for Windows. Includes a handy Wizard interface, a new (faster) engine, passphrase support to 2 GB, built-in encryption, and key generation. New to this version is a "copyright info manager" to add authorship information to files, although the legal enforceability of this feature is uncertain. English and German version are available.
Camouflage (2.6 mb) Freeware
Camouflage is an interesting Windows-based program that allows you to hide files by scrambling them and then attaching them to the end of the file of your choice. The camouflaged file then looks and behaves like a normal file, and can be stored or emailed without attracting attention. Works for pretty much any file type. Password protection included. Please note: The hidden file can be detected by examining to raw file data and seeing that the hidden file has been added after the normal carrier data, but this will only appear as gibberish since the data is encrypted. It is not the most secure form of steganography, but what it lacks in strength is makes up for in being inconspicuous by using routine files (i.e. Word docs). Multiple languages coming soon.
Outguess v0.2 (450 kb) Freeware
Unix-based program for JPG images. The only "undetectable" JPEG stego product, as evidenced by the author who has written a detection program which easily finds the others (Jsteg, JP Hide and Seek, and previous versions of Outguess).
Stegdetect (333 kb) Freeware
An automated, Unix-based tool for detecting steganographic content in JPEG images. Finds files hidden by Jsteg, JP Hide and Seek, and older version of Outguess.
2000-03-01
Steganos 3 Security Suite (12.8 mb) Shareware/Commercialware $49.95 (upgrade $29.95)
The Steganos 3 Security Suite is a complete, easy to use security suite that uses strong encyption and steganographic techniques to hide data in graphic and sound files. Also include is The Safe (drive encryptor), Internet Trace Destructor, file shredder, e-mail encryption, password manager and computer locking. Available in English, German, and Italian versions, Steganos just keeps getting better. Download the 30-day full featured trial version and check it out now!
Researchers are making progress in blind steganalysis techniques to detect messeges in carrier files without knowing the underlying technique. Read all about it in a special WIRED article Secret Messages Come in .WAVs. Also be sure to check out the Steganography Detection & Recovery Toolkit (S-DART), an Air Force Research Laboratory sponsored program to develop algorithms and techniques for detecting steganography in computers and electronic transmissions.
Spammimic is an interesting online program that uses Peter Wayner's mimic engine to turn your hidden message into pseudo-spam.
2000-12-28
It has been rather quiet on the steganography front during the last few months. I have updated the Watermarking Page as it was becoming a bit dated. Be sure to check out newly added Watermarking World and AlpVision.
2000-07-26
Invisible Secrets Pro (1.5 mb) Shareware $34.95
Invisible Secrets Pro encrypts and hides files in JPEG, PNG, BMP, HTML and WAV. It also provides strong encryption (Blowfish, Twofish, RC4, Cast128, and GOST), a shredder, and a password manager and generator. Interfacing nicely with Windows Explorer via right-click context-sensitive menus, this low cost shareware program is definitely worth checking out!
2000-05-04
Invisible Secrets (1.2mb) Sponsorware (free) Banner-free version $19.95
Invisible Secrets is an intersting piece of software in that it is the first banner-supported stego software that I've seen. As such, you've got to be on the net to use it (so the banners can load). You can pay a modest fee ($19.95) to lose the ads, which may be well worth it as there are a number of cool things about this software. These include JPG, BMP and PNG hiding, strong encryption, FTP support, temp file wiping, and fake message generation. Also included is the ability to add additional encryption and image file modules. Check it out!
Blindside (222k) Freeware
Blindside is a command-line utility that hides files in BMP's and has optional encryption. Also available are Linux, HP, Solaris, and AIX versions, with windows-based GUI promised soon.
2000-03-22
Perhaps this one's better titled "What's Not New." This has been an extremely productive (read busy) month for the StegoArchive. I have redesigned and retooled many of the site's pages and added tons of new information and software. Be sure to check out the new Watermarking Page as it now has software listings and better background information.
Hide In Picture — small easy to use Win9x BMP stego program with blowfish encryption
StegoWav — added the DOS version
StirMark, UnZign, and 2Mosaic— invalidate digital watermarking in images
Be sure to see the listings from earlier this month for other new programs, including StegFS, JP Hide and Seek, SubiText, Stealthencrypt, DataMark Technologies, Stash, Invisible Encryption, and Visible Encryption.
Yes, there's more... I have also added Freeware/Shareware status to all software listings. All broken links have been fixed. A new menu navigation system is in place and the software pages are much easier to peruse.
I welcome any feedback on these or any needed changes to the StegoArchive.
2000-03-07
StegFS (114k) Freeware
A steganographic file system for Linux. Cool concept!
JP Hide and Seek (184k) Freeware
JPHS is a Win95/98/NT stego program with a no-frills GUI that hides data in the ever popular JPG image format. Its small size is a major bonus as it easily fits on a disk. It uses encryption as well, but does not mention which type. DOS and Linux version also available.
SubiText (2.4mb) Free Demo/Commercialware $89.50
SubiText is an interesting program that subtly changes text features, such as narration tense, perspective, and single word synonym replacements to hide data within any text file. For instance, "the auto drives fast on a slippery road over the hill" instead becomes "over the slope the car travels quickly on an ice-covered street." SubiText uses strong encryption (Twofish and RSA) to cover its tracks. The program's GUI is currently written in German, making its use a bit challenging for this non-German-speaking user. There is a crippled demo available for download, but the full version (CD) requires purchase.
Stealthencrypt Commercialware
Stealthencrypt is part of the Internet Security Suite which features BMPand TIF steganography and uses triple DES and Blowfish encryption. Online downloading/ordering of this product is not available at this time. The software is available in the US and Canada at software stores such as CompUSA, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target.
DataMark Technologies Commercialware
DataMark Techologies has four stego products that hide information in bmp, jpg, gif, tga, tif, png, midi, wav, avi, and mpeg formats — StegComm for confidential multimedia communication, StegMark for digital watermarking of digital storage media, StegSafe for digital storage and linkage and StegSign for e-commerce transactions. The software sounds very interesting but they have no demos for downloading and no online purchasing either. The web site gives an email to contact for further info.
2000-03-05
Stash v1.1 (278k) Freeware
Stash is a simple Win95/98/NT-based stego program that will allow you to hide (and extract, of course) any data file inside a perfectly normal BMP, GIF, TIFF, PNG or PCX file. It does not appear to have any additional encryption features.
Invisible Encryption (IVE) (78k) Freeware
IVE is a cool little java-based steganographic program that works on GIF's in web pages. After klicking 3 times on the suspected encrypted image in the internet browser, a password-textbox appears. After entering the correct password the hidden text/message windows appear. A small Java applet included provides for public access and online decryption with standard WWW browsers on all platforms. IVE is easy to handle and self explaining. Check out the online demo.
Visible Encryption (VE) (64k) Shareware $40
Visual Encryption is the more sophisticated brother of IVE (above) can encrypt GIF images AND hidden texts for public access and online decryption. Online guests can enter a password in the GIF area. If ok, the total GIF including additional message window appear. VE is the tool to secure parts of GIF images that contain important sketches, formulas, or news.
2000-02-29
Added favorite stego software user poll to main search page. Be sure that your vote counts!
2000-02-22
Hide4PGP v2.0 (114k)
Hide4PGP v2.0 by Heinz Repp is a command-line steganographic program for Windows, DOS, and OS/2 that hides data within BMP, WAV, and VOC files. It is designed to be used with both PGP and Stealth, but also works well as a stand-alone program. Version 2.0 has several new features, including a new stego format which is much more robust against format conversions - only lossy compression formats will loose the hidden data. The source is also included and should compile on any platform without major problems.
S-Mail
S-Mail is a stego program that runs under all versions of Windows and DOS that uses strong encryption and compression to hide files in EXE and DLL files. Yes, you can hide files within full working programs! It has a nice user interface and takes measures to ensure that its hiding scheme is not detected by pattern or ID string scanners. Download the demo and check it out.
1999-11-06
StegParty
StegParty is text-based stego system that uses small alterations to the message, like changes to spelling and punctuation, to hide data. It does not, by default, use whitespace to encode data, but may be customized to do so. One caveat: because these are "small" alterations, the amount of encoded data per unit of carrier text is typically small. For instance, a 4K binary file just barely fits into Lewis Carroll's "Through The Looking Glass." You can improve on this by adding more rules, or by writing more text that takes advantage of these rules in your messages. StegParty is available as sorce code only.
1999-11-01
Steganos II Release 4
This is a service release for Steganos II which corrects a problem that some users were having whereby under some circumstances you couldn't close the Safe successfully when shutting down Windows at the same time. This could cause problems when trying to re-open the Safe. Some files or folders couldn't be wiped; messages like "The file xyz could not be opened and will therefore not be shredded" appeared in very few cases. Note: If you download the complete Steganos Security Suite after 10/20/99 you already have Release 4.
Steghide 0.3, release 1
Steghide, by Stefan Hetzl, is a command-line application that features hiding data in bmp, wav and au files, blowfish encryption, 128 bit MD5 hashing of passphrases to blowfish keys and pseudo-random distribution of hidden bits in the container data. Steghide is written in ANSI C so the source code should compile on many systems. Precompiled binaries are available for Windows and Linux.
1999-09-13
Finally added a basic search engine to the Stego Archive. You can check it out on every page at the top.
wbStego99
wbStego99 offers steganography in bitmaps, text, HTML, and PDF files. It is has two user-friendly interfaces and strong encryption for securely transmitting data online or adding copyright information.
Contraband Hell Edition
Contraband Hell Edition is a BMP-based stego program with strong encryption built in. It has a nice setup program and user interface and is FREE! It is still in beta, but only in so that it lacks helpfiles. Easy to use.
1999-08-05
Steganos II Security Suite - Final Release
Steganos has been completely rewritten and is now a suite of Win 95/98/NT applications designed to keep your data safe. Steganos II still uses strong encyption and steganographic techniques to hide data in graphic, sound, text, and HTML files, but now does so much more. New features include: 'InKA' (Invisible Key Agreement) an implementation of public key steganography, disk encryption, advanced password management tools, a "Zero-Emission-Pad" text editor to combat tempest attacks, a data shredder, and the "SysLock" function that effectively locks access to your PC when you are away. Available in English, German, and Italian versions. Definitely worth checking out!
OutGuess
OutGuess is a UNIX-based stego program for PNM and JPEG image formats. It uses a new techinque that attempts to minimize the number of modifications required to hide data in a given image, thus decreasing the likelihood of detection through image comparison.
1999-06-22
Digital Picture Envelop v1.0
Digital Picture Envelope is a program based on the BPCS-Steganographic technique which was invented by Eiji Kawaguchi in 1997. It is a BMP-based stego program that can hide an incredible amount of data in a single file, often 50-100% of the originial image without changing the file size. This is the first time that the BPCS group has released the encoder (with the decoder) and due to security concers, the exe will expire in a few months. While still a little rough on the edges, this first release looks good and is definitely worth the download.
1999-06-01
Added link to Watermarking 3D objects — a bibliography to the Watermarking page.
1999-05-07
Steganos II Security Suite (beta)
Steganos has been completely rewritten and is now a suite of Win 95/98/NT applications designed to keep your data safe. Steganos II still uses strong encyption and steganographic techniques to hide data in graphic, sound, text, and HTML files, but now does so much more. New features include: disk encryption, advanced password management tools, a "Zero-Emission-Pad" text editor to combats tempest attacks, a data shredder, and the "SysLock" function that effectively locks access to your PC when you are away. While still a beta, the final version will be release in several languages, including English, German, and Italian. Definitely worth checking out!
1999-04-03
JSteg Shell v1.0
JSteg Shell is a Win95/98/NT interface to run JSteg DOS, a program by Derek Upham which hides data in the ever popular JPG image format. Version 1.0 has a number of new improvements, including 40 bit RC4 encrytion, determination of the amount of data a JPG can hide beforehand, and user-selectable JPG options (ie. degree of compression).
JSteg Shell has a slick, easy to use interface that makes using JSteg DOS a snap. Don't worry about downloading the DOS executables as Jsteg Shell comes with them, and the installer takes care of all of the setup details. The distribution comes with the necessary VB v4 runtimes, so the file is quite large (3.9 MB). None the less, it is worth the download time for those those who have been waiting for easy to use JPG stego!
1998-12-25
At the request of many visitors to the Steganography Info and Archive, I have added this page of links to non-English steganography sites, including links to German, Russian, Finnish, Spanish, and Japanese sites.. As I am not fluent in any of these languages, I cannot guarantee the quality nor the accuracy of individual sites. However, if you are able to evaluate these sites or know of other valuable sites that should be included on this page, please let me know. Please include the url, title, general content and site quality descriptions.
1998-12-19
I have made several updates to the Stego Archive lately in order to make it more user friendly. There are many more "quick links" so that visitors will not have to scroll through sections they are not interested in. Also, the "Source Code" section has been changed to the "Unix/FreeBSD/Linux" section to better reflect the true intent of this section. Additionally, two new windows-based programs have been added (see below).
Encrypt Pic
With Encrypt Pic, you can hide data in 24 bit BMP images. It has the added benefit of offering data encryption via the BlowFish algorithm.
In The Picture
In The Picture is a Win95-based stego program that hides data in BMP images. It offers multiple unique keys so you can encrypt data intended for multiple recipients into the same file. It has a drag and drop interface and can generate a random fractal image to use as a vessel image, if needed.
1998-12-01
JSteg Shell
There are many steganography programs out there, but there is no Windows-based steganography program which can hide information in a JPG image. JPG images compress better than any other format, and so JPG images have become very popular on the WWW. The only program out there that can hide data in JPG's is JSteg, a DOS program by Derek Upham. Unfortunately, DOS JSteg is a bit cumbersome, requires the user to use TGA and JPG files and uses DOS command-line switches.
Fortunately, someone has finally taken up the challange and written an Win95 interface for DOS JSteg. JSteg Shell has a slick, easy to use interface that makes using JSteg DOS a snap. Because it is written in VB v4, the file is quite large (3.8 MB), but worth checking out for those who have been waiting for easy to use JPG stego!
1998-10-29
BPCS-Steganography
BPCS-Steganography is a new steganographic technique invented by Eiji Kawaguchi at Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan. It can embeds information in 24-bit BMP and GIF images. This novel technique hides the data in the bit-planes of the image. The most important feature of this steganography is that its embedding capacity is very large, in most cases it can embed 50% of the vessel data in size, and in some cases 70% can be achieved.
This Windows 95/98/NT program is Japanese-based, but is simple enough that anyone can understand its usage without detailed explanations. Because of its high capacity and concerns over misuse, the author is currently restricting downloads to the decoding portion of the program only. Despite this limitation, it is worth checking out this breakthrough in steganographic techniques.
1998-10-13
Added the following new listings to the Stego Archive this month.
Gifshuffle
Gifshuffle is a command-line-only program for windows which conceals messages in GIF images by shuffling the colourmap, leaving the image visibly unchanged. It works with all GIF images, including those with transparency and animation, and in addition provides compression and encryption of the concealed message.
Nicetext
Nicetext is a text-based stego program that converts data into pseudo-natural language text much like Texto. It has the ability to simulate many different writing styles, as evidenced by the "Shakespeare, Wizard of Oz, and Asoep's Fables" styles available at their online demo page. The only drawback of Nicetext is that it is only available as Unix/FreeBSD source and binaries - no DOS or Windows version.
PGMStealth and Piilo
These Unix-based programs have been around for quite a while and have been added to the Source Code section for completeness. They hide data in PGM grayscale images.
1998-08-23
There are several new additions to the Stego Archive this month.
MP3Stego
MP3Stego is a command-line program that hides information in MP3 files, which are wav file sound tracks that are compressed using the MPEG Audio Layer III format. They offer near-CD quality sound at a compression ratio of 11 to 1 (128 kilobits per second). This gives a very good opportunity for information hiding. MP3Stego is available in Windows 95/98/NT and Linux versions with source code available as well.
Gifshuffle
Gifshuffle conceals messages in GIF images by shuffling the colourmap. The picture remains visibly intact, only the order of color within the palette is changed. Gifshuffle works with all GIF images, including those with transparency and animation, and in addition provides compression and encryption of the concealed message. It is written in C and is currently available as source code only.
SGPO (SteganoGifPalatteOrder)
SGPO is a Java v1.1 based program with a nice interface that hides messages in GIF images by shuffling the colourmap. The picture remains visibly intact, only the order of color within the palette is changed.
Scramdisk
Scramdisk is a Win 95/98 based disk encryption program that allows the creation and use of virtual encrypted drives. These can be created in a container file on a FAT formatted hard disk, on an empty partition, or stored in the low bits of a WAV audio file (which makes it steganography). It has a slick interface and comes with a number of 'industry standard' encryption algorithms, including Triple-DES, IDEA, MISTY1, Blowfish, TEA, and Square.