Investigation of Steganalysis Algorithms for Multiple Cover Media

Steganography is the art and science of writing hidden messages in such a way that no one, apart from the sender and intended recipient, suspects the existence of the message, a form of security through obscurity. Steganalysis is the art and science of detecting messages hidden using steganography; this is analogous to cryptanalysis applied to cryptography. In this paper, we provide a critical review of the steganalysis algorithms available to analyze the characteristics of an image, audio or video stego media vis-à-vis the corresponding cover media (without the hidden information) and understand the process of embedding the information and its detection. It is noteworthy that each of these cover media has different special attributes that are altered by a steganography algorithm in such a way that the changes are not perceivable for the unintended recipients; but, the changes are identifiable using appropriate steganlysis algorithms. We anticipate that this paper can also give a clear picture of the current trends in steganography so that we can develop and improvise appropriate steganlysis algorithms