| Steganography is the study and implementation of methods applied to conceal the existence of messages. It is usually considered a sister discipline of watermarking, which is the study of techniques concerned with copyright and ownership protection. Together they form the academic and technological discipline known as information hiding.; This study presents a comprehensive review of the ancient and modern history of steganography, as well as various mathematical aspects behind some of the methods used to communicate covertly through digital media. We begin by presenting a comprehensive survey of the history of steganography and then investigate several techniques of steganography and steganalysis from a pedagogical perspective. Although the monograph particularly focuses on steganography, an introduction to watermarking is included at the end for completion purposes.; We believe that mathematical science majors will benefit from this exposition as it is expected that the technical part of the monograph will serve as an ancillary source in an undergraduate level course on steganography. We recommend students enter such a course with some knowledge of Discrete Mathematics, one course on Abstract Algebra, and two courses on Calculus, which should have enabled them to develop an acceptable level of mathematical maturity.; A population that we believe will be particularly well served is that of prospective secondary mathematics teachers, as we believe this monograph provides an opportunity to learn contemporary applications of mathematics with substantial content with which to enrich classroom instruction—a highly imperative aspect in the training of these professionals. |
