| Steganography | Cryptography | |
|---|---|---|
| Means | Hide a message in plain sight to avoid detection | Make it difficult to read a message when intercepted |
| Noticeability | Hard to notice a secret message. The message is hidden in something seemingly normal. | Easy to notice there is a secret message. The message does not look normal. |
| Legality | No limitations | Is illegal or restricted in some countries |
| Purpose | protect information | protect information |
| Meaning of Word | "cover writing" | "secret writing" |
| Transmission and Storage Security | Message hidden in data during transmission, and can be stored in the data for security after being decoded | Message encrypted during transmission, but once received and decrypted, no longer secure |
| Tampering | Can't tamper with the message unless you know it's there | Easy to tamper with the message while being transmitted |