Author: Rossy G
In this section we'll tell you how to hide data in a text file that can't be seen by anybody else unless they know the name of the secret compartment.
How it Works:
Ever since Windows 2000, the NTFS file system in Windows has supported Alternate Data Streams, which allow you to store data "behind" a filename with the use of a stream name. It's not detectable while browsing the file system or anywhere within Windows… you can only access it with the "secret key" which is really just the name of the stream.
You can think of these extra streams as secret compartments within the file that can only be accessed if you know the "secret code", which in this case is just the name of the stream.
This isn't considered the best way of securing your hidden data. Let's look at how this can be done in a fun and easy way. This only works on a drive formatted with NTFS.
Hiding Data in a Secret Compartment:
Open a command prompt then type the following:
notepad SomeFile.txt:SecretWordHere.txt
You can use anything after the colon as a secret word, the key is that there can't be any spaces between the first filename and the colon.
Now you can enter in whatever data you want here and save the file.
When you look at the file, it will still be the exact same size as before.
You can even open up the file by double-clicking on it, and add whatever data you want to make the file look normal.
You can use the command line again to add a second hidden "compartment" with a different name.
You can add whatever other information to this file that you'd like.
None of these hidden files will affect the other or change the main file. Just remember, you have to use the command line to access the hidden data.
Detecting Files with Streams:
Your files aren't completely hidden from everybody, because you can use a small command line application called Streams.exe to detect files that have streams, including the names of the streams.
For instance, we use the following syntax:
streams.exe SomeFile.txt
As you can see, the names of the streams are shown, which would allow you to easily access them.
Deleting Streams:
The same application, Stream.exe can be used for deleting the streams from all your hidden files. Use the following syntax:
streams.exe -d SomeFile.txt
Type the syntax and press Enter. All the files containing streams will be deleted.
Adding to Hidden Streams from the Command Line:
You can add data to a hidden stream by using a number of commands, or really anything that can pipe input or output and accept the standard FileName:StreamName syntax. For instance, we use the echo command:
echo "Neat!" > SomeFile.txt:Test
You can see with the streams command in the example above that we now have a hidden stream on the file.
Reading a Stream From the Command Line:
You can read data from the stream by piping data into the more command, using this syntax:
more < FileName:StreamName
In my example the actual command was this:
more < SomeFile.txt:SecretSquirrel!.txt
As you can see, the secret data that we added is outputted to the console.
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Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/computers-articles/how-to-hide-data-in-a-secret-text-file-compartment-7218035.html
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