Steganography in C++

A simple project that demonstrates how to hide and extract secret messages within BMP image files using Least Significant Bit (LSB) manipulation in C++. This project encodes messages into images and decodes them back, showcasing basic steganography techniques.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Features
• How it Works
• Usage
• Requirements
• Screenshots
• Conclusion
• References

Introduction

This project is a basic steganography implementation using the Least Significant Bit (LSB) method in C++. It allows users to encode a message into a BMP image by modifying the least significant bits of the pixel values, and decode the message later from the image.

Features

• Encode Messages in Images: Hides secret messages within the pixel data of BMP files.
• Decode Messages from Images: Extracts hidden messages from modified BMP files.
• Simple Console-Based Interface: Users can choose to encode or decode messages through simple terminal commands.

How it Works

The project manipulates the least significant bit (LSB) of each byte in the BMP image file. This process is used to encode a message by converting it into binary and embedding it in the image. During decoding, the program reads the LSBs to reconstruct the original message.

• Encoding: Converts each character of the message into an 8-bit binary form and replaces the LSB of the image pixels with these bits.
• Decoding: Reads the LSBs of the image pixels, reconstructs the binary sequence, and converts it back to the original message.

Usage

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/champst2004/steganography-cpp.git
cd steganography-cpp

2. Compile the Program

g++ project_main.cpp -o steganography

3. Run the Program

./steganography

4. Follow the On-Screen Prompts

Encode: Enter the message you want to hide in the image.
Decode: Extract the hidden message from the encoded image.

5. Example

1. Encode
Enter the message: Hello, World!
Message encoded in output.bmp

2. Decode
The message in the image is: Hello, World!

Requirements

C++11 or higher
Any C++ compiler (e.g., g++, clang++)
BMP image file for testing

Screenshots

Conclusion

This project demonstrates how to implement basic steganography using C++ and bit manipulation. While it's a simple LSB technique, the project lays the foundation for more advanced steganography and cryptography techniques.

References

C++ Documentation
Bit Manipulation in C++
Steganography - Wikipedia