More algorithms in computer science – Steganography

In this post, I will be writing about steganography. Steganography is another branch of computer science where algorithms are used.
I would like to define steganography before I get more deeply into the subject. Its prefix, “stegos”, is a Greek word that means to hide and its suffix, “graphia” is a Latin word that suggests a relation to writing. By breaking down the word “steganography”, we can clearly spot the difference between cryptography and steganography. Cryptography’s prefix, “cryptos”, means “secret” while steganography’s prefix, “stegos” means “to hide”. Like this, the purposes of cryptography and steganography differ. While the purpose of cryptography is to encrypt a message so others would not be able to understand, the purpose of steganography is to hide the existence of the message itself.
Although steganography differs from cryptography, it is similar to cryptography in a way that it also uses algorithms to conceal messages. In the old days, it didn’t use algorithms. The idea of steganography was displayed in the ancient times by using tricks. These tricks included writing messages on slaves’ heads and sending the slaves when their hairs are grown. Another trick was to write the message in invisible ink, which only appears when heat is applied.
In digital steganography, the main idea is to conceal confidential files by making it appear as a pdf. (image) or mp3.(music) files. In this process, codes must be applied and this is where the algorithm part comes in.
I will not be getting deep into steganography, since the sole purpose of writing this post was to introduce steganography. However, by learning about what steganography is, we can clearly see that algorithms are applied in various areas in computer science.

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