Bibliography

Overview

This book has chronicled steganography from its beginnings thousands of years ago to its modern uses and methods. With all the variations and possibilities, the question remains: What does the future have in store?

There are some who feel that steganography has many practical uses because it works only when no one expects you to use it. And with steganography getting more and more press these days, it will be something that is looked for all or most of the time.

There are others that feel that steganography will continue to grow in sophistication and ease of use to where reasonable doubt that stego may or may not be used is enough to ensure secrecy.

Some legitimate uses of steganography in the future could be:

• Protection of property, real and intellectual

• Individuals or organizations using steganographic carriers for personal or private information

Some illegal uses of steganography in the future could be:

• Criminal communications

• Fraud

• Hacking

• Electronic payments

• Gambling and pornography

• Harassment

• Intellectual property offenses

• Viruses

• Pedophilia

Steganography in digital form is still a young technology and will only increase in importance in the security community as time goes on. While I do not have a crystal ball for what will take shape in the future, I can offer you some guidelines for being as prepared as possible when changes do happen.

1. Keep yourself informed.

2. If you have to form a defensive strategy, consider the time factor.

3. Apply offensive weaponry in defensive ways.

4. Keep the community informed if you discover a new threat.

5. Do not consider any form of protection you might want to add as too extreme.