Hiding data in vector images: software implementation and experimental research

In recent years, new steganographic methods have emerged to hide information in various multimedia files, such as images, videos, audio, text, and more. Such cover files, which are also called media or containers, are freely transmitted via the Internet, so they do not arouse any suspicion. An authorized person who has a secret steganographic key can restore the hidden message. This article discusses techniques for hiding data in vector images. Individual elements of vector graphics are represented through special mathematical objects (points, lines, curves, nodes, tangents, control points, etc.). These objects are used to hide information. But there is a problem, which lays in the fact, that affine vector image transformations can destroy a hidden message. In addition, hiding algorithms usually increase the size of vector image files, which is a certain unmasking feature. The main purpose of our study is to examine these problems. To do this, it is programmatically implemented data hiding and conducted a series of experiments. In particular, it is investigated various concealment techniques (bit method and pattern-based method). For different initial conditions, it is evaluated the resistance of hidden data to affine transformations, resizing of vector graphics files, performance, and so on. Based on the results of numerical experiments, it is substantiated the advantages and conditions of using the studied algorithms. To conduct the research, we have developed a cross-platform software implementation (JavaScript programming language), i.e. our scripts can be run on different types of platforms and browsers. Thus, the developed implementation can be used as a framework for individual web client applications, as well as for writing a backend of complex and professional tasks.