Conversation Steganography

Abstract

1. Introduction

Conversation Stenography lets two people have a completely private conversation through any messaging app (WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, iMessage, email, or even Instagram DMs). Your secret messages are encrypted and then disguised as innocent, natural-sounding text generated by a local AI model. No one reading the chat can tell there's a hidden message.

personal note: I’m 18, and I’m definitely not the first person to explore this idea. LLM-based steganography has existed for years, even GPT-2, the local model used by this project, was released in 2019. People far capable than me have likely been experimenting with techniques like this for a long time. This project simply demonstrates a practical use case for LLMs that may already be operating at scale.

2. Objective

Use LLMs to hide messages inside normal looking conversations

This project demonstrates how Go can be applied to a real-world Cybersecurity & Ethical Hacking problem.

4. Technology Stack

5. System Requirements

General requirements for this technology stack — check the README for exact versions.

• Go 1.20 or later
• Git (to clone the repository)

6. Installation & Setup

git clone https://github.com/nethical6/conversation-steganography.git
cd conversation-steganography

1. Lets you pick an AI model (with recommendations for your system)
2. Downloads the model automatically
3. Creates your config file
4. Meet in person and agree on:
5. A secret phrase (6+ random words, e.g. "purple elephant dances under crimson moonlight")
6. A conversation name (e.g. "coffee-plans")
7. The same model (e.g. both pick option 1 in the setup wizard)
8. Each person runs:

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/nethical/conversation-stenography.git
cd conversation-stenography
go build -o conversation-stenography ./cmd/conversation-stenography

./conversation-stenography

./conversation-stenography
   # Enter the same conversation name
   # Enter your own name
   # Enter the shared secret phrase when prompted

export CONVERSATION_STENOGRAPHY_SECRET='purple elephant dances under crimson moonlight'
./conversation-stenography chat -conversation coffee-plans -me alex

Full setup instructions are in the project README.

7. Future Enhancements

Suggested extensions you can add to make this your own project.

• Add logging and alert notifications (email / Telegram)
• Write a threat model document for the tool
• Package it with Docker for safe lab testing

8. Viva / Review Questions

Common questions examiners ask for projects in this domain.

1. Which threat or attack does this project defend against?
2. What detection or protection technique is used and what are its limits?
3. How are false positives and false negatives handled?
4. Which cryptographic algorithms or security standards are involved?
5. What legal and ethical rules apply when testing a tool like this?

9. Source Code & License

This project is developed by nethical6 and published on GitHub under the GNU General Public License v3.0. Please follow the license terms and credit the original author when you use or modify this code.