SOAP message-based steganography

Steganography is the art of hiding secret data in public information. Hence, it is a kind of covert communication and information security. In this paper, we propose a novel steganography method to be used for SOAP messages within Web services environments. The method is based on rearranging the order of specific XML elements according to a secret message. This method has a high imperceptibility; it leaves almost no trail because of using the communication protocol as a cover medium, and since it keeps the structure and size of the SOAP message intact. The method is empirically validated using a feasible scenario so as to indicate its utility and value.