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Thread: true random numbers

  1. #1
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    true random numbers

    There is an open source project going on to generate numbers from a random source. The process is made by using a CCD chip to capture some digital data, since the CCD responds to lighting there is a source generating random values of iluminance, which is then processed by some algorithms, generating unpredictable numbers. Could be really useful in the future of cryptography.

    full story:


    http://slashdot.org/articles/03/08/1...tid=172&tid=93
    http://www.lavarnd.org/

  2. #2
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    Why is it that random numbers are useful in cryptography, and if the numbers become unpredictable then how would you be able decrypt it later on?

  3. #3
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    Random numbers are essential in cryptography to pick a key.

    Keys must be picked at random. Various protocols require keys to be chosen more or less often, with a varying number of bits.

    Anyway the whole point of a key is that you (an attacker) don't know what it's going to be. If it's picked non-randomly, that leaves an attacker the possibility of guessing it at a better than random chance, which means that the key can be broken more easily than if it were truly random.

    Slarty

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    Aah, I see. Thanx for the explanation, my thoughts wandered of in a completely different direction

  5. #5
    sounds a bit like the random numbers they were generating using lava lamps - lol
    they also are generating them now using sound - you know the kinda static hiss you get?? I remember reading an article about it but am not to sure of the actual way in which it is used - will try and hunt it out and post it when i get back from work

    v_Ln

  6. #6
    Sounds generally related to a project I worked on long ago -- generating random numbers from radioactive decay. One problem was that electronic detector biases reduced the random nature of the detected events, causing some concern that the key would be easier to "guess" than you might think for a truly random process like radioactive decay.

  7. #7
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    For now the best Crypto thing..... is the 1time pad methode........ I have read an artice about random #'s using a camera..... & watshing water flow......I dono about it... alot..... but I think... if U use a program...... dam... ther is nothing Random.....

  8. #8
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    Originally posted here by maxim_86ualb2
    For now the best Crypto thing..... is the 1time pad methode........ I have read an artice about random #'s using a camera..... & watshing water flow......I dono about it... alot..... but I think... if U use a program...... dam... ther is nothing Random.....
    You are quite right that a 'one time pad' is the most secure method if used correctly.
    What this means is that the two people exchanging information agree the key(s), and usually meet in the flesh to exchange it (them).

    By definition, each key is only used once, and then destroyed.

    The reason it fails, is if you use a so called random number, or a quotation from a book, for example, then this is easily cracked.

  9. #9
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    I would like to point out that this its very hard to generate a true random number. With visual baisc the random number function "int(rnd * 10)" if not actually random. Say you had a function on Form Load that was something like this mshbox int(rnd * 10). You would think that that would choose a different random number everytime the form laods. But in actuallity it does not. It will popup with the same number everytime that form is loaded.
    AntiOnline Quick Forum Version 2b Click Here
    10010101000000110010001100111

  10. #10
    AntiOnline Senior Member souleman's Avatar
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    whee, kinda old thread but....

    v_Ln> the sound thing has been around for a while. That is how C in unix generates its seed.

    spools> the only way to get a psudorandom number in any programming language (vb or otherwise) is to generate a seed. The problem with VB is that it is to easy to generate the exact same seed more then once.

    The one time pad always has been, and most likely always will be, the most secure form of encryption. The biggest flaw with the one time pad is that it is to easy to lose the key. It can't be broken, but if you leave your key book sitting on a table, its useless.
    \"Ignorance is bliss....
    but only for your enemy\"
    -- souleman

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