Stego

Abstract

1. Introduction

🦕 stego is a steganographic swiss army knife.

2. Objective

🦕 stego is a steganographic swiss army knife.

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

3. Key Features / Modules

• Cross platform (MacOS, Windows, Linux)
• Encoding and decoding of images/text/binary files into photos (audio/video coming soon)
• Fast and nearly undetectable encoding (to the human eye).
• Smart stdin/stdout detection (try piping to stego instead of using --payload)
• lossless decoding of data
• Simple, stateless CLI
• Zero system-dependencies (standalone binary)

4. Technology Stack

5. System Requirements

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

• Rust toolchain (rustup / cargo)
• Git (to clone the repository)

6. Installation & Setup

git clone https://github.com/ajmwagar/stego.git
cd stego

# Text encoding/decoding

# Encodes the message "Hello, Stego!" into the provided image
stego encode text --input image.png --output encoded-image.png --payload "Hello, Stego\!"

# Decodes and prints out the encoded message ("Hello, Stego!") hidden in the provided image
stego decode text --input encoded-image.png

# File encoding/decoding

# Encodes the file hidden.docx into the provided image
stego encode file --input image.png --output encoded-image.png --payload hidden.docx

# Decodes and saves the content to decoded.docx from the provided image
stego decode file --input encoded-image.png --output decoded.docx

# Stdin detection (for text-encoding)
echo "Hello, Stego\!" | stego encode text --input image.png --output encoded-image.png

# Help
stego --help
stego encode --help
stego decode --help

cargo install stego

git clone https://github.com/ajmwagar/stego
cd stego
cargo install --path ./ --force

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 ajmwagar and published on GitHub under the MIT License. Please follow the license terms and credit the original author when you use or modify this code.