Lost in the Digital Wild: Hiding Information in Digital Activities

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel information hiding framework that embeds data within digital activities across social networks, shifting from traditional cover object methods to utilizing entire digital worlds as covers, with applications in security and beyond.

Contribution

The paper proposes a new framework for information hiding that embeds data in digital activities rather than cover objects, enabling more complex steganography in digital environments.

Findings

Developed a proof-of-concept mobile app using Twitter activities.

Framework demonstrates potential for more secure steganography techniques.

Initial results show feasibility of embedding information in digital activity patterns.

Abstract

This paper presents a new general framework of information hiding, in which the hidden information is embedded into a collection of activities conducted by selected human and computer entities (e.g., a number of online accounts of one or more online social networks) in a selected digital world. Different from other traditional schemes, where the hidden information is embedded into one or more selected or generated cover objects, in the new framework the hidden information is embedded in the fact that some particular digital activities with some particular attributes took place in some particular ways in the receiver-observable digital world. In the new framework the concept of "cover" almost disappears, or one can say that now the whole digital world selected becomes the cover. The new framework can find applications in both security (e.g., steganography) and non-security domains (e.g., gaming). For security applications we expect that the new framework calls for completely new steganalysis techniques, which are likely more complicated, less effective and less efficient than existing ones due to the need to monitor and analyze the whole digital world constantly and in real time. A proof-of-concept system was developed as a mobile app based on Twitter activities to demonstrate the information hiding framework works. We are developing a more hybrid system involving several online social networks.