An investigation of scalable vector graphics as a cover medium for steganography

Cryptography is normally used when security is required in Internet communications, even though its use makes obvious to outside observers that communications are sensitive. If the true desire is for the very existence of sensitive communication to go undetected, then steganography is the answer. With steganography, data can be hidden in ordinary digital files such that any unwanted interceptors of communications are likely to think that all they have are normal messages. A file format that has promise of becoming widely used on the Internet is Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), which supports the delivery of two-dimensional graphical images with rich content. This work proposes algorithms for embedding information into SVG and implements three different approaches, each with variations to further explore the nature of the embedding techniques. Preliminary testing has been conducted to show the viability of SVG as a cover medium for steganography.