"The Good, The Bad And The Ugly": Evaluation of Wi-Fi Steganography

In this paper we propose a new method for the evaluation of network steganography algorithms based on the new concept of "the moving observer". We considered three levels of undetectability named: "good", "bad", and "ugly". To illustrate this method we chose Wi-Fi steganography as a solid family of information hiding protocols. We present the state of the art in this area covering well-known hiding techniques for 802.11 networks. "The moving observer" approach could help not only in the evaluation of steganographic algorithms, but also might be a starting point for a new detection system of network steganography. The concept of a new detection system, called MoveSteg, is explained in detail.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Proc. of: ICNIT 2015 - 6th International Conference on Networking and Information Technology, Tokyo, Japan, November 5-6, 201

StegIbiza: New Method for Information Hiding in Club Music

In this paper a new method for information hiding in club music is introduced. The method called StegIbiza is based on using the music tempo as a carrier. The tempo is modulated by hidden messages with a 3-value coding scheme, which is an adoption of Morse code for StegIbiza. The evaluation of the system was performed for several music samples (with and without StegIbiza enabled) on a selected group of testers who had a music background. Finally, for the worst case scenario, none of them could identify any differences in the audio with a 1% margin of changed tempo.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

SocialStegDisc: Application of steganography in social networks to create a file system

The concept named SocialStegDisc was introduced as an application of the original idea of StegHash method. This new kind of mass-storage was characterized by unlimited space. The design also attempted to improve the operation of StegHash by trade-off between memory requirements and computation time. Applying the mechanism of linked list provided the set of operations on files: creation, reading, deletion and modification. Features, limitations and opportunities were discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

MoveSteg: A Method of Network Steganography Detection

This article presents a new method for detecting a source point of time based network steganography - MoveSteg. A steganography carrier could be an example of multimedia stream made with packets. These packets are then delayed intentionally to send hidden information using time based steganography methods. The presented analysis describes a method that allows finding the source of steganography stream in network that is managed by us

Methods for Information Hiding in Open Social Networks

This paper summarizes research on methods for information hiding in Open Social Networks. The first contribution is the idea of StegHash, which is based on the use of hashtags in various open social networks to connect multimedia files (such as images, movies, songs) with embedded hidden data. The proof of concept was implemented and tested using a few social media services. The experiments confirmed the initial idea. Next, SocialStegDisc was designed as an application of the StegHash method by combining it with the theory of filesystems. SocialStegDisc provides the basic set of operations for files, such as creation, reading or deletion, by implementing the mechanism of a linked list. It establishes a new kind of mass-storage characterized by unlimited data space, but limited address space where the limitation is the number of the hashtags' unique permutations. The operations of the original StegHash method were optimized by trade-offs between the memory requirements and computation time. Features and limitations were identified and discussed. The proposed system broadens research on a completely new area of threats in social networks

Mobile Agents for Detecting Network Attacks Using Timing Covert Channels

This article addresses the problem of network attacks using steganographic techniques based on the manipulation of time relationships between IP packets. In the study, an efficient method to detect such attacks is presented. The proposed algorithm is based on the Change Observation Theory, and employs two types of agents: base and flying ones. The agents observe the time parameters of the network traffic, using proposed meta-histograms and trained machine learning algorithms, in the node where they were installed. The results of experiments using various machine learning algorithm are presented and discussed. The study showed that the Random Forest and MLP classifiers achieved the best detection results, yielding an area under the ROC curve (AUC) above 0.85 for the evaluation data. We showed a proof-of-concept for an attack detection method that combined the classification algorithm, the proposed anomaly metrics and the mobile agents. We claim that due to a unique feature of self-regulation, realized by destroying unnecessary agents, the proposed method can establish a new type of multi-agent intrusion detection system that can be applied to a wider group of IT systems

A Wireless Covert Channel Based on Constellation Shaping Modulation

Wireless covert channel is an emerging covert communication technique which conceals the very existence of secret information in wireless signal including GSM, CDMA, and LTE. The secret message bits are always modulated into artificial noise superposed with cover signal, which is then demodulated with the shared codebook at the receiver. In this paper, we first extend the traditional KS test and regularity test in covert timing channel detection into wireless covert channel, which can be used to reveal the very existence of secret data in wireless covert channel from the aspect of multiorder statistics. In order to improve the undetectability, a wireless covert channel for OFDM-based communication system based on constellation shaping modulation is proposed, which generates additional constellation points around the standard points in normal constellations. The carrier signal is then modulated with the dirty constellation and the secret message bits are represented by the selection mode of the additional constellation points; shaping modulation is employed to keep the distribution of constellation errors unchanged. Experimental results show that the proposed wireless covert channel scheme can resist various statistical detections. The communication reliability under typical interference is also proved

The impact of life changes on social media practices: An ethnographic study of young Chinese adults living in Australia

There are mainstream research focuses on how social media affect people's lives, the present study explores how people use social media when confronted with life changing events or circumstances, especially when living overseas. Being exposed to a new living environment in Australia, many young adults from other countries are faced with a range of challenges. These may include cultural barriers, language limitations, employment difficulties, and academic pressures. The interpersonal relationships of young adults and their technological mediations shift as they experience life changes. Drawing from long-term ethnographic research among young adults who moved from mainland China to Australia for further education or employment, I argue that social media are crucial in assisting young adults to navigate their life transitions. However, this plays out differently depending on the type of relationship and social context (friendship, love, family and work). I propose that with the affordances and the integrated communicative environment that polymedia (Madianou & Miller's 2013) provides, young adults living overseas present themselves and their life changes to diverse groups of people in different ways in order to mediate different types of ongoing relationships. This thesis contributes to the scholarship of interpersonal relationships and social media studies by exploring the digitally mediated communication of young adults going through life changes

Social Media in Emergent Brazil

Since the popularisation of the internet, low-income Brazilians have received little government support to help them access it. In response, they have largely self-financed their digital migration. Internet cafés became prosperous businesses in working-class neighbourhoods and rural settlements, and, more recently, families have aspired to buy their own home computer with hire purchase agreements. As low-income Brazilians began to access popular social media sites in the mid-2000s, affluent Brazilians ridiculed their limited technological skills, different tastes and poor schooling, but this did not deter them from expanding their online presence. Young people created profiles for barely literate older relatives and taught them to navigate platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp. Based on 15 months of ethnographic research, this book aims to understand why low-income Brazilians have invested so much of their time and money in learning about social media. Juliano Spyer explores this question from a number of perspectives, including education, relationships, work and politics. He argues that social media is the way for low-income Brazilians to stay connected to the family and friends they see in person on a regular basis, which suggests that social media serves a crucial function in strengthening traditional social relation

Social Media in Emergent Brazil

Since the popularisation of the internet, low-income Brazilians have received little government support to help them access it. In response, they have largely self-financed their digital migration. Internet cafés became prosperous businesses in working-class neighbourhoods and rural settlements, and, more recently, families have aspired to buy their own home computer with hire purchase agreements. As low-income Brazilians began to access popular social media sites in the mid-2000s, affluent Brazilians ridiculed their limited technological skills, different tastes and poor schooling, but this did not deter them from expanding their online presence. Young people created profiles for barely literate older relatives and taught them to navigate platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp. Based on 15 months of ethnographic research, this book aims to understand why low-income Brazilians have invested so much of their time and money in learning about social media. Juliano Spyer explores this question from a number of perspectives, including education, relationships, work and politics. He argues that social media is the way for low-income Brazilians to stay connected to the family and friends they see in person on a regular basis, which suggests that social media serves a crucial function in strengthening traditional social relation