UNCOVER

Criminals and terrorists are increasingly using data hiding methods (steganography) to conceal incriminating information in innocent-looking digital files, such as images, video, audio and text files. The main objective of UNCOVER is to fill the gaps in the ability of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to detect the presence of such hidden information (i.e. steganalysis). To conduct a full investigation of criminal and terrorist activities, LEAs currently use available (commercial) tools to detect hidden information in collected digital media. However, these tools only detect a limited number of concealment methods, are slow and offer no indication of confidence. Moreover, many commercial tools are a decade behind the state of the art. UNCOVER members are committed to filling these gaps and thus to substantially increase the technological autonomy of LEAs in the field of digital media steganalysis. With its consortium of 22 partners, including LEAs, forensic institutes, leading researchers working in universities and research institutions, as well as industrial companies, UNCOVER aims to outperform available steganalysis solutions in terms of performance (number of detectable steganographic methods, detection accuracy), ease of use, operational needs, privacy protection and chain of custody considerations. The developed detection and investigation tools will be integrated into a flexible and user-friendly platform. End-users play a key role throughout the project cycle: from proposal writing, through user requirements analysis and tool development, to final evaluation. In particular, regular feedback loops with law enforcement, forensic institutes and external stakeholders will ensure that the developed solutions can be integrated into law enforcement’s daily criminal investigation process. A set of clearly defined key performance indicators allows for an objective assessment of progress and final results against defined objectives.