What is covert channel amplification? I wrote a short blog post about it: https://wendzel.de/misc/2026/02/28/history-cc.html
#covertchannels #steganography #networksecurity #netsec #cybersec #cybersecurity #informationhiding #infosec #covertchannels #security
If you need some overview on how censorship is conducted or how it can be measured, here's our comprehensive paper on it:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167404825004213?via%3Dihub
We also summarized datasets and measurement platforms as well as selected human aspects.
#censorship #internetcensorship #censorshipcircumvention #freedomofspeech #infosec #cybersecurity #networks #internet #tcpip #selfcensorship #Tor #I2P #covertchannels #steganography #security #accessibility #gfw #china #vpn #ooni #gfwatch #censoredplanet #gfweb
Paper 2/2:
I know the idea is rather trivial but during Christmas I played around with IoT devices and how they can be used for censorship circumvention and time-decoupled covert transmissions.
AdullamoT: Using IoT Devices as Relays for Time-decoupled
Secret Exchange & Censorship Circumvention
PDF: https://wendzel.de/dr.org/files/Papers/AdullamoT.pdf
#censorship #internetcensorship #covertchannels #steganography #cybersecurity #infosec #iot
I've had this TI-83 Premium CE since secondary school and I'm thinking of what I could use it again for, or what I could turn it into
It runs Z80 assembly. I could write low-level code, explore calculator ROM hacking, or reverse-engineer the firmware.
But I have a better idea
A covert channel research project on this ti-83 premium ce. Measuring timing side-channels to understand what information leaks from the device.
the goal is to fingerprint calculator operations through usb response latency alone. No hardware modification. Just signal analysis.
if timing reveals secrets, so does everything else connected to the system.
I really have no idea of what the result would be, but this will be fun
I thought the cable was a charge-only, now it got identified by the kernel via dmesh from RingBuffer (https://github.com/The-OffSec-Desk/ringbuffer) I don't need to go get a better one
I'll be sharing my findings in parts, enjoy 🙂
What is Covert Channel Amplification? What are History Covert Channels? I tried to summarize this in few words:
https://www.wendzel.de/misc/2026/02/28/history-cc.html
The post will be updated soon with our upcoming IFIP SEC 2026 paper.
#netsec #infosec #cybersecurity #cybersec #steganography #covertchannels #informationhiding #research
How to describe #steganography methods in a comparable and unified way to aid #replicability?
We combined pre-existing methodology into a single framework. New pre-print + online tool prototype (will get improved soon) on our website: https://patterns.omi.uni-ulm.de/news/
Full version of the paper and the online tool will be presented at the ARES'25 CUING workshop in August.
#replicability #steganography #covertchannels #informationhiding #infosec #cybersecurity #security #research
New pre-print: Domainator: Detecting and Identifying DNS-Tunneling Malware Using Metadata Sequences
(final version to appear at ARES'25)
#dns #tunneling #infosec #cybersecurity #malware #steganography #covertchannels #security
Scientific papers are not free from overlaps and even re-inventions that utilize a different terminology. With the ever-growing pile of published papers, scientists need to keep track of the available research, understand links and similarities between existing ideas and concepts. Steganography is the science of concealed storage and transfer of secret data. Like other scientific domains which have a multi-decade history, steganography contains sub-domains which grew partially independent, resulting in redundancy. This is why our taxonomy draws links between these sub-disciplines. On an abstract level, we show that ideas from one domain can also be found in the other, and we find a common term for such ideas.
A Generic Taxonomy for #Steganography. Published today by ACM Comp. Surveys (CSUR). Joint-work w/ W. Mazurczyk , @lucacav, A. Mileva, @Jana_Dittmann, @kraetzer, K. Lamshöft, @THB_Security_Research, L. Hartmann, J. Keller, @TN_THB and @niosat
Paper: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3729165
#infosec #surveys #taxonomy #informationhiding #covertchannels #stego
There's supplemental material available (just scroll down on the linked page). It also features the description method for steganography techniques.
Being an #EnigmaProtector is the only consistent part of the job description. 
Tradecraft speaks volumes. The practice I usually see used is just going about your day without trying too hard to hide what you are & if they can figure things out on their own then you're both "cool enough" to know what each other really are. (After all, #CovertChannels are the best channels.) This also functions as a test of your own best practices; & if either of you wants to quit your current job, as a job interview with the other's organization).
Steffen Wendzel
CyberDevHq
Pseudonymous 