steganographically

Steganographically refers to the practice of concealing a file, message, image, or video within another innocuous file or message in order to avoid detection. This differs from cryptography, which is the art of making and breaking codes and ciphers, in that it is not typically about making a message secret in terms of its content, but rather about hiding the very existence of the message. Steganography has been practiced since ancient times. A notable early example is from Herodotus, who tells of a message written on a wooden tablet that was then covered with wax. Another historical method involved tattooing messages on shaved heads of messengers and waiting for their hair to grow back before sending them.

In modern times, steganography has evolved with digital technologies. Digital steganography involves embedding secret data within digital media such as images, audio files, or video files. This can be achieved through various techniques, for instance, by altering the least significant bits of the pixel data in an image. When these subtle changes are made, they are often imperceptible to the human eye, allowing the hidden message to remain undetected. Similarly, data can be hidden in the redundant parts of audio or video files. The effectiveness of steganography relies on the assumption that the carrier file is normal and that no one is looking for hidden data. The field of steganography is of interest in areas like digital watermarking, secure communication, and digital forensics.