Linux-kernel mailing list archive 2000-04,: Re: Intel 810 Random Number Generator

# Re: Intel 810 Random Number Generator

Mike A. Harris (mharris@meteng.on.ca)
Mon, 24 Jan 2000 13:28:49 -0500 (EST)

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On Mon, 24 Jan 2000, Frank v Waveren wrote:

>> Frank v Waveren wrote:
>> > Am I missing something here? I thought that you could mix all the non-random
>> > numbers you want into the entropy pool (long live xor), and it will never make
>> > the entropy worse? So I'd say mixing in the RNG won't do any harm, so why not?
>>
>> Read the intro text in drivers/char/random.c...
>>
>> If the RNG provides a lot more data than other entropy sources, it can
>> throw things out of whack.
>
>Hmm, interesting. I quote (in case someone else is interested)
>
> * outside observer to measure. Randomness from these sources are
> * added to an "entropy pool", which is mixed using a CRC-like function.
> * This is not cryptographically strong, but it is adequate assuming
> * the randomness is not chosen maliciously, and it is fast enough that
> * the overhead of doing it on every interrupt is very reasonable.
>
>Why not use XOR, which is 'pretty quick' too, and *really* doesn't care if
>your mixing in your bookmarks file or radioactive decay data?

Muaahhahahahahah! Made my day! ;o)

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