# Steganography · Concept

> Hiding a message so that nobody knows there is one, as distinct from making it unreadable.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts/CPT0DECW0855NN3/steganography  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Concepts](https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts)Steganography

Concept · cryptography · in 2 mysteries

# Steganography

Hiding a message so that nobody knows there is one, as distinct from making it unreadable.

[Voynich Manuscript](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript)[Cicada 3301](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301)

Concealment rather than encipherment: a message in the first letters of lines, in the spacing of a text, in the bits of an image. Cicada 3301's puzzles used it heavily, and it is one account of the Voynich Manuscript (that the visible text is cover and the message lies in some feature of it). It is hard to rule out, because a message that is not found might be hidden better or not be there at all.

## Where it comes up

**[Voynich Manuscript](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript)**

The text has no plaintext; it was composed freely in a personal, language-like idiom, as in glossolalia or automatic writing.

[Made-up text, written freely](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/voynich-manuscript/answers/ANS0D8GG93G7CGA/made-up-text-written-freely)

**[Cicada 3301](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301)**

Enlightenment awaits." Its hidden text, extracted with the OutGuess steganography tool, led through a book code keyed to Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay "Self-Reliance" to further Tor sites .

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). Steganography [Concept CPT0DECW0855NN3]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/CPT0DECW0855NN3
```

Key

**CPT** 0DECW0855NN3

Record

Concept

Field

Cryptography

Related

[Null model](https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts/CPT0DECW06JED24/null-model)

Version

2

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

[ Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q170013)

**How this page is made.** The definition is the site's, in its own words. “Where it comes up” is read from the answers, methods and evidence that name the concept.

Related concepts

[Null model](https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts/CPT0DECW06JED24/null-model)

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