Date: 22 Sep 2001 21:17:13 +0200 From: Artur Grabowski <art@blahonga.org> To: "June Carey" <carey_june@hotmail.com> Cc: bugs@openbsd.org, bugs@freebsd.org Subject: Re: OpenBSD-2.9 random devices Message-ID: <878zf79gsm.fsf@kaka.blahonga.org> In-Reply-To: "June Carey"'s message of "Sat, 22 Sep 2001 18:52:16 %2B0000" References: <F28IlZ5cNww5jGpJtaO000031c8@hotmail.com>
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"June Carey" <carey_june@hotmail.com> writes: > Hi. > > In the OpenBSD-2.9 random(4) manual pages, it says: "The entropy > pool is converted into output data using MD5"; /dev/srandom, > /dev/urandom. > > I believe the implementation of these devices were "taken" from FreeBSD, > hence the Cc:. > > I suggest that the MD5 algorithm is removed and replaced with what I > call the "XOR-fold-technique". As I'm sure you know, the one-time-pad > cipher consists of a key-stream synchronously XOR'd with a data-stream. > > The "XOR-fold-technique" is the same thing, but applied to only one > stream. For example, if you have a (secret) 16-byte quantity, you half > it in size (8-bytes) and XOR one half with the other. The product is > as secure as the one-time-pad cipher, i.e. it is a perfect one-way > "hash". > > > The replacement of MD5 with "XOR-fold" has the following advantages: > > (1) Guaranteed one-way function; MD5 is at best supposition. > (2) Massive performance increase. > (3) The algorithm automatically scales to the input size, whereas MD5 > produces a constant sized output (128-bits from memory ?) > > > Disadvantages: > > None ? I'm sorry, but taking cryptographic advise from someone completly unknown mailing from hotmail is not good cryptographical practice. Publish a paper, make comparsions between your method and other methods, have some known cryptographers analyze it and come back in 5 years, then maybe we'll have something to talk about. //art To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-bugs" in the body of the message
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