Techniques for data hiding in audio files

Data hiding is a group of techniques for embedding data in media such as images and audio signals. Ideally, the data will be directly embedded into the data stream of the host medium imperceivably, and will also be immune to the modification of the host medium, allowing the data to stay embedded. The process is constrained by the bandwidth of data to be embedded, the need for invariance of the data under conditions where the "host" signal is subject to distortions, and the degree to which the data must be immune to interception, modification, or removal by a third party_ Both novel and traditional techniques for data hiding are described and evaluated. This work has focused primarily on audio. This work was supported in part by the News in the Future Research Consortium and ffiM. Thesis Supervisor: Walter Bender Title: Associate Director for Information Technology, MIT Media Laboratory