From: "Mullen Patrick" <Mullen.Patrick@mail.ndhm.gtegsc.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Sep 1996 06:49:14 +0800
To: "Cypherpunks" <cypherpunks@toad.com>
Subject: Stego inside encryption
Message-ID: <n1368976385.63324@mail.ndhm.gtegsc.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


My apologies if this shows up twice.  I got an error message from my
first posting.
***************

I know a lot of times the idea behind steganography is to hide the fact that a
secret message is in a seemingly normal file/mail/whatever.  This is good
for avoiding unwanted interest in your file.  The benefit of not having people
attempt to crack you code, added to the strength of the cryptosystem is
wonderful.  However, I propose this--

Don't hide that anything's encrypted!  Rather than hide this fact, throw it
in their face!  I propose hiding an encrypted message inside another 
encrypted message.  Set bits in specific places to data in the real message.
The benefit is Oscar not only doesn't know what the crypto is, he attacks
the wrong message.  Hiding statistically random bits from the true message
in statistically random bits from the masking message shouldn't be too 
hard.

Granted, this scheme doesn't get you past measures designed to keep out all
encrypted messages, and it surely wouldn't keep you message from generating
interest, but it would be very hard to decrypt the message, especially when 
some algorithm is used which (seemingly) randomly selects which bits to use 
for the stego.

Just a thought...  My apologies if someone has already proposed this method.

Patrick