Scanning tool for the detection of images embedded with malicious programs

Abstract

Nowadays, malware is being deployed onto victim systems in an increasingly diverse number of ways. One of these methods involves the passive propagation of malware by embedding in JPEG images which goes on to highlight that even simple images can be manipulated maliciously by criminals. The aim of this paper is comprised of two main aspects. The first involves the development of an embedding module which exploits this vulnerability as a proof-of-concept. Its primary purpose will be the pipelining of a Remote Access Trojan into an image file through steganography and obfuscation of the payload. The second aspect will involve developing a corresponding steganalysis tool to scan, detect and notify the user of the presence of a malicious program in either one or a set of selected images. It will also give a brief summarized analysis of the detected payload. Ultimately, this will act as a proof-of-concept highlighting the need to consider images as a potential attack vector and then also offer a corresponding solution to this problem.