The Security Threat Posed by Steganographic Content on the Internet

After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, the United States declared war on terrorism. The Patriot Act (H.R. 3162) authorizes law enforcement agencies to monitor and intercept the electronic communications of suspected terrorists. Telephone communication and encrypted telephony would no longer provide safe havens for terrorists to communicate with one another. However, this change in U.S. policy may have forced terrorists and their allies to search for alternative convert communication methods. The New York Times, USA Today, and the United States Institute of Peace have reported that terrorists may be using steganography and cryptography on the Web as a means for covert communication by Kolata, G. et al (2001). These reports have been the basis of several studies into covert communications by terrorists. This paper examines the effectiveness of the tools used in these studies that have led to such conclusions, and investigates whether the results of these studies were conclusive proof that terrorists could be exploiting steganography and cryptography on the Web for covert communication purposes