[Am-info] 'Hacktivists' to release covert communications tool

[Fred A. Miller]

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http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=3Dns99992506
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'Hacktivists' to release covert communications tool=20
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18:43 04 July 02=20
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NewScientist.com news service=20
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An international group of "hacktivists" says it is about to release a
computer program designed to let political dissidents communicate via the
internet without fear of government eavesdropping.=20

Hacktivismo, an international group of programmers and activists, says th=
e
program, named Camera/Shy, will make it simple to bury encrypted
information in innocuous-looking images that can then be shared over the
internet. Those with the same program will then be able to automatically
detect and extract concealed information.

Anyone monitoring the internet for subversive activity will only see
apparently ordinary images. Hacktivismo says Camera/Shy will also use
encryption, suggesting keys will be needed to reveal secret information i=
n
full.

Founder Hacktivismo member, Oxblood Ruffin says: "Although not all of us
are Americans, we share the fundamental ideals of the Constitution of the
United States, especially freedom of speech. Camera/Shy is a small first
step in sharing that privilege."


Keeping quiet=20


A technology called steganography allows data to be embedded in the digit=
al
information comprising an image file. This is accomplished by altering
relatively unimportant bits so that the changed image remains identical t=
o
the naked eye.

The information is concealed using a key. While it may be possible to
detect that an image has been modified to contain information, without th=
e
key it is impossible to extract that information.

Hacktivismo says Camera/Shy has been designed for "non-technical users" a=
nd
will be similar to any normal internet browser. But it will automatically
scan web pages for images containing steganographic data. The program has
been designed to work with any Microsoft operating system running Interne=
t
Explorer 5 or later. It should also leave no trace of browsing activity o=
n
a user's computer, according to Hacktivismo.

Peter Honeyman, an expert in image steganography at the University of
Michigan, says steganography offers an alternative to encryption. The
latter also keeps the contents of a message private, but does not try to
hide its existence.

"If you want the contents of a message to be private, you just use
cryptography," he told New Scientist. "If you want the container of a
message to also be unknown you use steganography."

Honeyman says existing steganography cannot be completely undetectable an=
d
adds that the key used to hide messages in images can be revealed with
brute force computing power. But he adds that communications could be mad=
e
more secure by creating images that appear to contain steganographic data=
,
but which in fact contain no information.

Hacktivismo says Camera/Shy will be released at the computer security
convention H2K2 in New York City, on 13 July. The group is sponsored by t=
he
US computer hacker group Cult of the Dead Cow, which has previewed anothe=
r
program designed to beat government surveillance, called Peek-a-booty.=20

- --=20
Never forget: At Microsoft, the engineering department are the=20
Ferengi... The marketing and legal departments are the Borg!
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