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FAQ
Common questions about QuantHide.
Steganography is the practice of hiding secret information within ordinary, non-secret data. Unlike encryption (which makes data unreadable), steganography hides the very existence of the secret.
Current encryption like RSA and ECC will be broken by quantum computers using Shor's algorithm. QuantHide uses Kyber1024, a quantum-resistant algorithm selected by NIST, ensuring your secrets remain safe even in a post-quantum world.
Yes, QuantHide is completely free and open source under the MIT License.
No. QuantHide runs entirely locally on your device. No data is ever sent to any server. No accounts, no analytics, no telemetry.
Very secure. QuantHide uses:
- Kyber1024: NIST-approved post-quantum encryption (Level 5)
- ChaCha20-Poly1305: Military-grade authenticated encryption
- Argon2id: Memory-hard key derivation (64MB per attempt)
The encrypted data itself appears as random noise. However:
- Basic visual inspection: No — changes are invisible
- Statistical analysis: Unlikely with random padding
- Advanced ML models: Possibly detect presence, but not content
The data is lost forever. There's no recovery mechanism, no backdoor, no master key. Use a password manager.
With standard encoding: Potentially, through advanced analysis. With Decoy Mode: You can reveal plausible content while denying any other secrets exist.
Input (cover images):
- PNG ✅
- JPEG ✅
- WebP ✅
Output:
- Always PNG (lossless, preserves hidden data)
Approximately: (width × height × 3) ÷ 8 bytes
| Image Size | Capacity |
|---|---|
| 1920×1080 | ~760 KB |
| 3840×2160 | ~3 MB |
| 4000×3000 | ~4.3 MB |
No. QuantHide uses LSB (Least Significant Bit) encoding, modifying only the least important bit of each color channel. The changes are imperceptible to the human eye.
Yes! QuantHide can hide any file type up to the image's capacity.
JPEG and WebP use lossy compression, which would destroy the hidden data. PNG is lossless, preserving every pixel exactly.
Not recommended. Most social platforms re-compress images, which destroys the hidden data. Use direct sharing methods instead.
No. Any modification (cropping, resizing, filtering, format conversion) will destroy the hidden data.
The decryption will fail, and you'll get an error message. The data remains intact in the image — you can try again with the correct password.
- Wrong password
- Image was modified/compressed after encoding
- Image doesn't contain hidden data
- Split decode: Missing one or more parts
This shouldn't happen. If you notice visible changes:
- Try a higher-resolution cover image
- Use an image with more visual complexity
- Report a bug if the issue persists
Right-click the app → Open (first time only, to bypass Gatekeeper).
- Make sure you've loaded ALL parts
- Parts must be from the same encoding session
- Use the same password for all parts
| Feature | QuantHide | OpenStego |
|---|---|---|
| Quantum-safe | ✅ Kyber1024 | ❌ |
| Encryption | ChaCha20-Poly1305 | AES |
| Key derivation | Argon2id (64MB) | SHA |
| Decoy mode | ✅ | ❌ |
| Split encoding | ✅ | ❌ |
| Feature | QuantHide | Steghide |
|---|---|---|
| Quantum-safe | ✅ | ❌ |
| Encryption | Modern | 3DES (outdated) |
| GUI | ✅ Modern | ❌ CLI only |
| Active development | ✅ | ❌ (abandoned) |
- Report bugs via GitHub Issues
- Submit feature requests
- Contribute code via Pull Requests
- Help with documentation
- Share QuantHide with others
Please report it responsibly. See SECURITY.md for instructions. Do NOT open a public issue.