What does steganography involve?

Steganography specifically refers to the practice of concealing messages within other types of data, such as images, audio files, or text. The primary goal of steganography is to hide the existence of the message itself, making it undetectable to anyone who is not aware of its presence.

For instance, an image could be altered in a way that specific bits of data are changed to embed a hidden message without significantly altering the appearance of the image to the naked eye. This technique allows for secure communication because, unlike encryption, where the data is transformed to be unreadable, steganography aims to keep the communication secret by hiding it altogether.

Other options, while related to data handling and cybersecurity, do not encapsulate the essence of steganography. Encrypting data is about making information unreadable without the correct key, analyzing data focuses on examination for patterns, and compressing images deals with reducing file sizes rather than hiding information. Thus, the choice that accurately defines steganography is the practice of concealing messages within other data.