Steganography is the art of hiding secret messages within other non-secret text, images, or other files. It works by embedding messages into the redundant or insignificant parts of cover files, like images or audio files. Modern steganography techniques hide data by making subtle alterations to things like the least significant bits of pixels in an image or by modifying phases in an audio file. Steganography provides a way to communicate covertly and anonymously, but detection is possible through statistical analysis or if the steganography algorithm is known. Steganography has various applications but is also used by criminals and terrorists seeking anonymity.