From owner-freebsd-security Tue Sep 5 5:58:35 2000 Delivered-To: freebsd-security@freebsd.org Received: from public.bta.net.cn (public.bta.net.cn [202.96.0.97]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with SMTP id CED4137B424 for ; Tue, 5 Sep 2000 05:58:30 -0700 (PDT) Received: from netrinsics.com([202.108.133.65]) by public.bta.net.cn(JetMail 2.5.3.0) with SMTP id jm4e39b51bdd; Tue, 5 Sep 2000 12:58:43 -0000 Received: (from robinson@localhost) by netrinsics.com (8.11.0/8.9.3) id e85Cx2W08046 for security@Freebsd.org; Tue, 5 Sep 2000 20:59:02 +0800 (+0800) (envelope-from robinson) Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000 20:59:02 +0800 (+0800) From: Michael Robinson Message-Id: <200009051259.e85Cx2W08046@netrinsics.com> To: security@Freebsd.org Subject: Re: yarrow & /dev/random Sender: owner-freebsd-security@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Peter Jeremy writes: >For a soundcard to produce useful entropy, >you are relying on it's output being primarily thermal noise. "Useful entropy" is redundant. If you have 512 bits of entropy and mix it with a megabyte of non-entropy, you still have 512 bits of entropy. The only thing you are relying on is the quality of your mixing function, and the fact that entropy is going into your entropy pool faster than it is coming out. If 12bits*16Khz sampling only generates 512 bits of actual randomness per second, that's still 512 "useful entropy" bits per second. -Michael Robinson To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-security" in the body of the message