Covert Communication in Termography - Analysis of Possibilities and Examples

Abstract

The article presents a new concept of using thermography – steganography in thermography. Steganography is a technique of hiding information in a non-obvious way and belongs to the field of science related to information security. This article examines three examples of steganographic channels – covert communication channels that use thermal imaging devices in three different ways. The first proposed method uses the possibility of alternating the scene observed by the infrared camera in a way that additional information is included in the thermogram. The second method, called ThermoSteg, uses modification of one of the parameters of the thermal imaging camera (integration time) to embed the signal containing hidden information. The third method is based on digital thermograms and the methods of replacing dead pixels in them by creating the so-called zombie pixels carrying secretive information. Three methods have been implemented under real conditions and proven to work in practice.