Comparative analysis and study of the properties of information carriers for steganographic data hiding in clustered file sys-tems

doi:10.26565/2519-2310-2021-1-03

Кирил Шеханін V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University
Людмила Горбачова V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University
Катерина Кузнецова V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26565/2519-2310-2021-1-03

Keywords: Fragmentation, Data hiding, Steganographic, File storage media

Abstract

The paper studies and analyzes various modern information storage technologies, namely HDD, Flash-USB, SSD. We`ve analyzed different indicators such as the number of implemented products, price, speed of reading and writing. Besides, we`ve considered some indicators of the information carriers’ efficiency in terms of view of the possibility of using steganographic methods for hiding information in clustered file systems. It have been analyzed the speed of sequential reading / writing and the speed of access to a random cluster, corresponding to the speed of access to a fragmented file. For this task, we used the test results from the UserBenchmark resource. The testing has made using the Sequential and Random4k methods. In addition, we have provided an assessment of information carriers and have gave recommendations of using the particular information carrier and method for hiding data by mixing clusters in the structure of the file system. Besides, it was analyzed the dependence of the speed parameters of access to the cluster on the level of file fragmentation. Refinements are made of how an increase or decrease in the level of fragmentation (entanglement) affects the speed of access to the file, which is an important indicator when using the method of hiding data in the file system structure. The advantages and disadvantages of various types of storage devices have been discussed, and its comparative analysis was made. Moreover, we analyzed the features of the process of defragmentation of drives, and the influence of various factors on the overall level of fragmentation on the storage medium. We placed emphasis on the greater the level of fragmentation on the storage medium, the more information could be hidden. It was concluded that due to the widespread use of SSD / HDD drives, the method of hiding information in the structure of file systems, by mixing clusters of covering files, is relevant.

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Author Biographies

Кирил Шеханін, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University

Postgraduate Student, Faculty of Computer Science

Людмила Горбачова, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University

Computer science student

Катерина Кузнецова, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University

Computer science student

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