Steganography in Audio Files: COTS Software Analysis

The paper presents the analysis of the Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software regarding the ability to be used in audio steganography techniques. Such methods are a relatively new tool for hiding and transmitting crucial information, also being used by hackers. In the following work, the publicly available software dedicated to audio steganography is examined. The aim was to provide the general operating model of the information processing in the steganographic effort. The embedding method was analyzed for each application, providing interesting insights and allowing classifying the methods. The results prove that it is possible to detect the hidden message within the specific audio file and identify the technique that was used to create it. This may be exploited further during the hacking attack detection and prevention.