Note<\/strong>: We have explained the procedure on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (also applies for Debian OS). You will require sudo privileges for installing the utilities on your system.<\/p>\n Steghide is a command-line utility that allows you hide to files in an image or an audio file. It can hide data in JPEG, WAV, AU, and BMP formats.<\/p>\n You can use the following command to install the Steghide utility:<\/p>\n Once Steghide is installed, you are ready to hide or embed your files inside an image. You will require the file that you want to hide and an image that you want to hide it in (also known as cover file).<\/p>\n To hide a file inside an image file using Steghide, the syntax is as follows:<\/p>\n Where -ef<\/strong> is used to specify the file <file-to-hide ><\/strong> that needs to embed and –cf<\/strong> is used to specify the cover file <image.jpg> <\/strong>that you want to hide it in.<\/p>\n For instance, the below command will hide the testfile.txt<\/strong> in a flower.jpg<\/strong> image file.<\/p>\n It will ask you to type a passphrase and then confirm it. This password will be later used to extract the file embedded in the image. If you don\u2019t want to password-protect it, just hit Enter<\/strong> twice.<\/p>\n Now that our file is hidden inside the image, we can remove the original file.<\/p>\n To access the file hidden inside an image, you will need to extract it from the image. The syntax is as follows:<\/p>\n Where -sf<\/strong> is used to specify the image name which contains the embedded data.<\/p>\n For instance, the below command will extract the original file embedded into the image flower.jpg<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Provide the password for the file, after which the original file will be extracted.<\/p>\n Outguess is another command-line utility that is used to embed the files inside an image. It lets you hide information in redundant bits of the cover medium. It can hide data in PPM, PNM, and JPEG files.<\/p>\n You can use the following command to install the Steghide utility:<\/p>\n Once Outguess is installed, you are ready to hide or embed your files inside an image. You will require the file that you want to hide and an image that you want to hide it in (also known as a cover file).<\/p>\n To hide a file inside an image file using Outguess, the syntax is as follows<\/p>\n Where \u201cpassword\u201d<\/strong> is the password used to encrypt and hide the <file-to-hide><\/strong> inside an <image>.<\/strong> The <image-out><\/strong> is the resultant file containing the resultant image with the embedded data.<\/p>\n For instance, the below command will embed the testfile.txt<\/strong> into flower.jpg<\/strong> with password abc123<\/strong> and store the results in flower-out.jpg<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Now you can remove the original text file:<\/p>\n To access the file hidden inside an image, you will need to extract it from the image. The syntax is as follows:<\/p>\n You can choose any name for the <filename>, not necessarily the original file name.<\/p>\n For instance, the below command will extract the original file embedded into the image flower-out.jpg<\/strong>.<\/p>\n You will be well aware of the Linux Cat command which has three major functions: create files, view contents of the file, and concatenate files. Using the Cat command concatenation function, we can achieve Steganography.<\/p>\n For this method, you will require a zip file (containing the files that need to hide) and an image file (in which you want to hide the files). Follow the steps by step procedure to do so:<\/p>\n 1. Create a directory and add all the files you want to hide in an image. For instance, we want to hide a directory of files named myfiles<\/strong>, so we have created it using the following command:<\/p>\n Then in the newly created directory, copy the files you want to hide.<\/p>\n 2. Now, compress this directory using the below command:<\/p>\n Where myfiles.zip<\/strong> is the compressed file name.<\/p>\n 3. Now, place your image file in the same directory where the compressed file is placed which in our case is the Home directory. Then concatenate the compressed file and the image file and save that in a new image file as follows:<\/p>\n Where myfiles.zip<\/strong> is the compressed file, image.jpg<\/strong> is the image file which we want to use as a cover file, and flower.jpg<\/strong> is the output file that will be actually hiding the files.<\/p>\n 4. Now that you have hidden the files in an image, you are safe to remove the files directory and the compressed file. You can do so using the rm<\/strong> command as follows:<\/p>\nUsing the Steghide Utility (Command Line)<\/h2>\n
$ sudo apt install steghide<\/pre>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/word-image-37.png\")
<\/h3>\n$ steghide embed -ef <file-to-hide > -cf <image.jpg><\/pre>\n
$ steghide embed -ef testfile.txt -cf flower.jpg<\/pre>\n
$ sudo rm testfile.txt<\/pre>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/word-image-38.png\")
<\/h3>\nAccess the Hidden Files<\/h2>\n
$ steghide extract -sf <image><\/pre>\n
$ steghide extract -sf flower.jpg<\/pre>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/word-image-39.png\")
<\/h3>\nUsing the Outguess Utility (Command Line)<\/h2>\n
$ sudo apt install outguess<\/pre>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/word-image-40.png\")
<\/h3>\n$ outguess -k <\u201cpassword\u201d> -d <file-to-hide> <image> <image-out><\/pre>\n
$ outguess -k \u201cabc123\u201d -d testfile.txt flower.jpg flower-out.jpg<\/pre>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/word-image-41.png\")
<\/h3>\n![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/word-image-42.png\")
<\/h3>\n$ sudo rm testfile.txt<\/pre>\n
Access the Hidden Files<\/h2>\n
$ outguess -k \u201cpassword\u201d -r <image-out> <filename><\/pre>\n
$ outguess -k \u201cabc123\u201d -r flower-out.jpg testfile.txt<\/pre>\n
![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/word-image-43.png\")
<\/p>\nUsing the Cat Command (Command Line)<\/h2>\n
$ sudo mkdir myfiles<\/pre>\n
$ sudo zip -r myfiles.zip myfiles<\/pre>\n
![\"C:\\Users\\1](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/c-users-1-eb-desktop-screenshot-from-2021-03-01-0.png\")
<\/h3>\n$ cat myfiles.zip image.jpg > flower.jpg<\/pre>\n
![\"C:\\Users\\1](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/c-users-1-eb-desktop-aa-png.png\")
<\/h3>\n$ sudo rm -r myfiles<\/pre>\n
$ sudo rm myfiles.zip<\/pre>\n
Access the Hidden Files<\/h2>\n
![\"C:\\Users\\1](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/c-users-1-eb-desktop-screenshot-from-2021-03-01-0-1.png\")
<\/h3>\n![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/word-image-44.png\")
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<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/word-image-47.png\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/word-image-48.png\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/word-image-49.png\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/word-image-50.png\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/word-image-51.png\")
<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/linuxways.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/word-image-52.png\")
<\/p>\n