Flexible Cross-Modal Steganography via Implicit Representations

Nowadays, an unprecedented volume of data is shared and stored across various digital platforms and the volume is bound to intensify even further in the future. This proliferation and accessibility of data contributes to convenience in our lives and enables innovation and advancement that weren't achievable in the past; however, it also brings a concerning challenge to the security of information. Steganography, derived from the Greek words "steganos" (covered) and "graphein" (writing), aims to hide the secret information inside a cover data resulting in stego data, also called the container. Unlike cryptography, which investigates in hiding the data of interest in a coded form, steganography operates with imperceptible concealment so that the existence of the secret data is undetectable. Up to now, image is the most commonly used modality of cover data, as it is less sensitive to human perception and is comparatively simple to embed secret information.