Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 16:16:29 +0200 From: Mark Murray <mark@grondar.za> To: Dag-Erling Smorgrav <des@flood.ping.uio.no> Cc: Dan Moschuk <dan@FreeBSD.ORG>, arch@FreeBSD.ORG, phk@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: (2nd iteration) New /dev/(random|null|zero) - review, please Message-ID: <200006191416.QAA00697@grimreaper.grondar.za> In-Reply-To: <xzpwvjlu9w5.fsf@flood.ping.uio.no> ; from Dag-Erling Smorgrav <des@flood.ping.uio.no> "19 Jun 2000 14:34:50 %2B0200." References: <xzpwvjlu9w5.fsf@flood.ping.uio.no>
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> The idea of built-in hardware RNGs bothers me a little. How can the > manufacturer guarantee that all units are perfectly identical and > indistinguishable? Is it conceivable that a hardware RNG might leave > (be it by accident or by design) some kind of fingerprint in its > output that might be detectable if you know what to look for? Reminds > me of Sherlock Holmes comparing typewritten documents to see if they > were produced on the same typewriter. This can be dealt with - hash the output into a "pool of entropy" and serve the randomness out of that. M -- Mark Murray Join the anti-SPAM movement: http://www.cauce.org To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-arch" in the body of the message
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