Have you ever heard of steganography "> Wikipedia defines this word as" the science, originating from ancient Greece, of writing hidden messages in such a way that no one, apart from the sender and recipient, can suspect its existence ". The hidden messages immediately make you think of the spies, the CIA and even the sad pizzini; all this can be assimilated to steganography in its most ancient meaning.
With the advent of computer science, sending secret and covered messages has become a basic function that today can be said to be really easy for anyone.
A classic method is to hide a text file inside an image or a photo, which can be sent without giving any idea to others that there is actually something else behind it.
Whatever the reason you may have for sending secret and hidden messages in images, it is now possible to do so regardless of the operating system and without being a hacker or computer genes, on any computer.
First of all, to hide files in an image or a photo, you can use the procedure explained in another article.
Since that procedure may seem complex to less experienced (albeit more fun), there are other programs to hide text and files within an image so that they are not visible to those who do not know.
1) A very easy first program that allows you to hide files in images is JPEG file Binder .
You must then right click on the file, go to Send and then put it in a compressed folder (it is fine even if you have Winzip or Winrar).
Now open JPEG Binder, click the Picture button, select the JPEG file (also a photo) in which you want to hide the files.
Then press the Compressed File button and choose the compressed file.
Finally press on Output Picture File and give a name to the image that keeps inside the hidden file.
At this point, for everyone, that file is a simple image while who knows the trick, can open that file with Winrar, Winzip or 7zip, unzip the hidden archive and magically see the files.
2) SteganographX is a portable program that does not require installation, which allows you to hide written text inside an image so as to create a real secret message.
In the right part you write or paste the text of the secret message while in the left part, pressing the Encrypt button, you can select the image that contains and covers it.
To decrypt the message in the image you must then reuse the same SteganographX and select the container image from the Decrypt button.
3) Isteg does not require installation and allows you to hide a file inside an image which can also be sent via Email as a secret message.
The tool is very easy, it has only two buttons, one for selecting the file to hide, the other for the image that covers it.
A new image is then created which is located in the same folder as the original photo.
To get the hidden file back, just change the extension of the rigged image.
Remember that extensions are the three letters to the right of the dot in the file name.
If you don't see the extensions, go to the folder options from the Instrument menu and, from the display tab, and disable the "Hide extensions for known file types" item.
4) ImageHide is another small, free, portable Windows tool that allows you to hide text in an image.
An image file or a photo from PNG, JPG or BMP format can be imported into the program using the Load Image button.
Afterwards, you can write the secret message in the box, press the "write Data" key and then save.
Optionally you can also add a password to open the hidden message.
Those who receive the photo must have the ImageHide program in order to read the message.
5) Steg supports a series of image formats including BMP, JPG, JPEG, PNG, PPM and TIFF in which to hide sensitive information that should not be read by unauthorized persons.
The toolbar at the top contains all the options needed to encode a message into an image.
With Steg you can also hide a text file inside an image file without it being visible without permissions.
6) For Mac, the iSteg program allows you to hide files in photos or images.
8) For secret messages, you could also choose to send temporary Email messages, on expiry, which self-destruct .
If you know of other nice ways of hiding files or messages on a computer or in a message, let them know.
