Re: RNG in a Smart Card

Tom Weinstein (tomw@netscape.com)
Thu, 16 Jul 1998 15:41:29 -0700

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Ng Pheng Siong wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> (Attempting to draw another thread on randomness...)
>
> Some smart cards, like Schlumberger's CryptoFlex, can generate keys
> within the card. (Which others?)
>
> The question is: how does a smart card harvest entropy to generate "good"
> random numbers? There aren't UI events, network packets, etc.
>
> If the entropy comes from sampling electrical noise, or whatever, what
> does physics tell us about the constraints on parameters like sampling
> rate, quantifying entropy, etc., in the context of operating within a
> smart card?

In my experience, the RNGs on most smart cards are very poor. I wouldn't
trust them to generate keys.

-- 
What is appropriate for the master is not appropriate| Tom Weinstein
for the novice.  You must understand Tao before      | tomw@netscape.com
transcending structure.  -- The Tao of Programming   |

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• In reply to: Bruce Schneier: "Re: linux kernel loopkack encryption"
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