Computer Science

Computer Science ›› 2026, Vol. 53 ›› Issue (3): 411-423.doi: 10.11896/jsjkx.250400047

• Information Security • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Research Review of Application-based Covert Channel

CHANG Huiyan1, HU Hongchao1, ZHOU Dacheng1,2,3, XU Depeng1, CHENG Guozhen1,2,3   

  1. 1 Institute of Information Technonlogy, Information Engineering University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
    2 Key Laboratory of Cyberspace Security, Ministry of Education of China, Zhengzhou 450002, China
    3 National Key Laboratory of Advanced Communication Networks, Zhengzhou 450002, China
  • Received:2025-04-10 Revised:2025-06-28 Published:2026-03-12
  • About author:CHANG Huiyan,born in 2000,postgraduate.Her main research interests include covert communication and image steganography.
    ZHOU Dacheng,born in 1995,Ph.D,assistant research fellow.His main research interests include cyberspace security and cloud computing.
  • Supported by:
    National Key Research and Development Program of China(2024YFB2907201) and Henan Province Major Science and Technology Project(241110210200).

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Abstract: Recently,tunneling covert information in the network information flow generated by secure and trusted applications has become a prevalent technique for building covert channels.With the development of covert channel technology,a variety of application-based covert channel systems have been proposed.However,existing reviews predominantly focus on the principles and definitions of the application-based covert channel technologies,omitting detailed explanations of the classification criteria and the strengths and weaknesses of various systems.Consequently,this paper gives a comprehensive and profound review of the field of application-based covert channels.From the perspective of the underlying applications,these covert channels are classified into two categories:those based on multimedia streaming applications and those based on real-time online games.Further,based on the different stages of embedding covert data,the covert channels based on multimedia streaming are subdivided into two types of methods:embedding in the original multimedia stream and embedding in the compressed multimedia stream.In addition,by conducting an in-depth analysis of the unique advantages and potential problems of each method,a multi-dimensional comparative analysis of covert channels based on multimedia flow is established,aiming to reveal the characteristics and differences of various covert channel technologies.Building on the prior research,the prevailing challenges and prospective development trajectories in this field are delineated.

Key words: Covert channel, Covert communication, Steganography, Privacy security, Web real-time communication

CLC Number: 

  • TP393
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