I.J. Computer Network and Information Security, 2014, 1, 55-60 Published Online November 2013 in MECS (http://www.mecs-press.org/) DOI: 10.5815/ijcnis.2014.01.08 Copyright © 2014 MECS I.J. Computer Network and Information Security, 2014, 1, 55-60 A Novel Approach of Text Steganography using Nonlinear Character Positions (NCP) Sabyasachi Samanta 1 , Saurabh Dutta 2 , Goutam Sanyal 3 1 Haldia Institute of Technology, Haldia, WB, INDIA 2 Dr. B. C. Roy Engineering College, Durgapur, WB, INDIA 3 National Institute of Technology, Durgapur, WB, INDIA sabyasachi.smnt@gmail.com 1 ; saurabh.dutta@bcrec.org 2 ; nitgsanyal@gmail.com 3 Abstract—Usually, the steganographic algorithms employ images, audio, video or text files as the medium to ensure hidden exchange of information between multiple contenders and to protect the data from the prying eyes. This paper presents a survey of text steganography method used for hiding secret information inside some cover text. Here the text steganography algorithms based on modification of font format, font style et cetera, has advantages of great capacity, good imperceptibility and wide application range. The nonlinear character positions of different pages are targeted through out the cover with insignificant modification. As compared to other methods, we believe that the approaches proposed convey superior randomness and thus support higher security. Index Terms—Text steganography, Nonlinear character position (NCP), Security, Data hiding. I. INTRODUCTION Steganography is the art and science of writing hidden messages in such a way that no one, apart from the sender and intended recipient, suspects the existence of the message. Steganography is derived from the Greek word steganos which literally means ―Covered‖ and graphy means ―Writing‖, i.e. covered writing. Steganography refers to the science of ―invisible‖ communication. Digital form of media as a cover-object being use in steganography are images, video clips, music or sounds. Capacity, security, and robustness, are the three main aspects affecting steganography and its usefulness. Capacity refers to the amount of data bits that can be hidden in the cover medium. Security relates to the ability of an eavesdropper to figure the hidden information easily. Robustness is concerned about the resist possibility of modifying or destroying the hidden data [15] [16]. Figure 1.1: The Mechanism of Text Steganography Steganography is different than cryptography and watermarking although they all have overlapping usages in the information hiding processes [17] [22]. Steganography security hides the knowledge that there is information in the cover medium, where cryptography revels this knowledge but encodes the data as cipher-text and disputes decoding it without permission; i.e., cryptography concentrate the challenge on the decoding process while steganography adds the search of detecting if there is hidden information or not [23][24][25]. Steganography can also be utilized for posting secret communications on the Web to avoid transmission or to hide data on the network in case of a violation. It can be useful for copyright protection, which is, in reality, digital watermarking [5]. Copyright protection is to protect the cover medium from claiming its credit be others, with no real emphasis on secrecy. Text steganography also have been used since 2000 bc as a cover media. Text steganography is the most Cover Text Stego Text Embe- dding Data Embe- dding Data Embedding Extracting Stego Key