[ale] random number generators

[dev null zero two]

IIRC, the link I sent is for a Linux RNG patch that uses a FIPS approved
DRBG. If properly seeded, this can supply a ton of secure random numbers
without draining the entropy pool so much.

On Tue, Mar 19, 2019 at 4:52 PM Alex Carver via Ale <ale at ale.org> wrote:

> On 2019-03-19 13:31, Jim Kinney via Ale wrote:
> > When the entropy pool gets low and all 200TB are encrypted, writes can
> > slow down.
> >
> > Looking at at hardware RNG devices. Found one that looks really cool,
> > open, all the right buttons http://onerng.info/
> >
> > Anybody used something like this?
>
> I've seen mention more than once of using a Geiger counter with its
> output tied to a serial port to generate random bits with a small
> software shim to push them into entropy.  The advantage is that
> radioactive decay is random and this kind of setup can't be influenced
> from a distance.
>
>
> Diode noise is not fully random, it has a specific energy distribution
> so there will be bias in the results (in which case you're depending on
> these guys to have smoothed/whitened the noise properly).  RF noise is
> also not random when the receiver is stationary.  The RF landscape
> doesn't change too much and also has inherent bias (cell towers, wifi
> APs, lots of other transmitters that don't move and sit on the same
> frequency).  The RF generator would depend on the features that do
> change which are fewer and slower.
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