What is steganography primarily used for?

Steganography is primarily used to hide the fact of a communication through hidden messages. This technique involves embedding information within other non-secret text or data to conceal its existence. The fundamental principle behind steganography is to obscure the presence of the secret message, making it undetectable to unauthorized observers while the data itself appears innocuous. This is different from encryption, where the focus is on converting readable data into a scrambled format to protect its content.

By hiding messages in seemingly harmless formats, such as images, audio files, or other types of data, steganography ensures that if the carrier data is intercepted, the hidden message remains concealed. This can enhance security, as it not only protects the contents of the communication but also reduces the likelihood of the communication being noticed at all.

The other options deal with aspects of data security or file manipulation that do not align with the primary purpose of steganography, which is focused specifically on concealing the communication itself rather than just securing or compressing data.