Towards Preventative Steganalysis in Wireless Visual Sensor Networks

Issues of security and privacy in surveillance systems are abound. Much focus has been put toward developing security strategies for emerging wireless visual sensor networks. Solutions target protection of the overt communication channel. However, given the characteristics of these networks which include shared resources, high degrees of collaboration and the presence of redundancy and uncertainty, they represent a rich environment for the presence of covert communications. Thus, we assert that threat models for such systems must include steganographic models. In this paper, we present the problem of preventative steganalysis that addresses steganographic issues in wireless visual sensor networks. The goal of preventative steganalysis is to offer a proactive solution against steganography by increasing the steganalyst’s knowledge of the cover-media and thus emphasizing the presence of hidden messages. This paper introduces the topic of preventative steganalysis. Characteristics of an effective steganographic solution are derived and a practical solution is tested. KeywordsSteganography; Steganalysis; Wireless Visual Sensor Network