The TXT Hider

An LSB2 Steganography Encoder / Decoder which hides plain text in PNG Images

Part 1 of the Steganography Made Fun! Toolkit

• Latest Release / Executables
• Source Code

About the Project

Steganography, although seems complicated is a very interesting process. It may involve studying the properties of the original message for better concealing of data. Encryption may also be employed before Steganography or Steganography may be applied to an encrypted message to make the data imperceptible

Image Steganography usually stores data in the LSB bits of the pixel brightness levels. 1-4 bits are used commonly where more the number of bits induces more noise into the encoded message. The amount of data that can be stored in a image is proportional to the resolution of the image.

Steganography Made Fun! is an Image Steganography Toolkit which makes Steganography enjoyable. The toolkit has three parts divided into three repositories:

• Part 1: The TXT Hider (This Repository)
• Part 2: The MP3 Photographer
• Part 3: The PNG Musician

Release Directory Structure

• FILES\ : This is where the program looks for files and writes new files into
• LICENSE : GNU GPL v3.0 License for The TXT Hider
• README.txt : Release Information
• The TXT Hider.exe : Executable for Windows Devices (built using PyInstaller)

Repository Structure

• FILES\ : This is where the program looks for files and writes new files into
• LICENSE : GNU GPL v3.0 License for The TXT Hider
• README.md : Repository Information
• install_requirements.bat : Installs the necessary package requirements using pip (Requires pip access in PATH)
• The TXT Hider.py : Source Code

Usage Instructions

1. Just let things be where they are (relatively)
2. For Steganography:
   • Place your target image in PNG or JPG or JPEG format with the file name image under the FILES\ directory
   • Type in your text in the text.txt file under the FILES\ directory
   • Run The TXT Hider.py using the IDE of your choice or via CMD using the python "The TXT Hider.py" command
   • Obtain the Steganographically Encoded PNG file in the FILES\ directory with the name image_stegano.png
3. For Reverse Steganography
   • Place the encoded image with name image_stegano.png under the FILES\ directory
   • Run The TXT Hider.py using the IDE of your choice or via CMD using the python "The TXT Hider.py" command
   • Observe the decoded text on the command line interface

Requirements

• Operating System: Windows

Disclaimer

• I do not own any rights to the images or music in this repository. All rights are reserved by the respective artists and record labels
• Most Antivirus Softwares falsely tag the EXE as suspicious piece of software. Please whitelist the EXE on your device to use it
• The provided SHA256 Checksum is for the EXE provided and can be verified if required

Acknowledgements and References

• ASCII Art by: TextKool
• Quickstart: Secrets Hidden in Images (Steganography) - Computerphile