OpenStego

Description

OpenStego is an open-source steganography tool used for hiding and extracting data within image files. It is commonly used in CTF challenges and security assessments for embedding secret messages inside PNG images. OpenStego was referenced in both the Cybertalent forensics challenges and the CEH review as a key steganography tool.

Usage 1: Extract Hidden Data from an Image

Use OpenStego to extract steganographically hidden data from a PNG file. In the "Message in a Bottle" Cybertalent challenge, a PNG file containing hidden data was decoded using OpenStego.

Steps:

1. Download OpenStego from: https://github.com/syvaidya/openstego/releases/tag/openstego-0.6.1
2. Launch OpenStego
3. Select "Extract Data" tab
4. Browse and select the input stego image (PNG file)
5. Specify the output folder for the extracted data
6. Click "Extract Data"

Usage 2: Hide Data Inside an Image

Embed a secret message or file inside a cover image using OpenStego's data hiding functionality.

Steps:

1. Launch OpenStego
2. Select "Embed Data" tab
3. Select the message file to hide
4. Select the cover image (PNG)
5. Specify the output stego image path
6. Click "Embed Data"

Notes

OpenStego works primarily with PNG image files
Download link: https://github.com/syvaidya/openstego/releases/tag/openstego-0.6.1
Listed alongside other CEH tools: Cryptool, BCTextEditor, Veracrypt, Snow
Java-based application (requires Java Runtime Environment)
Supports both data hiding (steganography) and digital watermarking