David Honig wrote:
An experiment
Run a block cipher in a feedback mode, generating a large data file. Any good cipher will pass Diehard's tests for structure. So will a true random file.
(I've posted directions for producing decent true randomness from a detuned FM radio, soundcard, and 8->1 parity-reduction filtering.)
Now run Maurer's test; I've posted a version for blocksize = 16. The cipher-PRNG output will not have the entropy expected for randomness. The physical-random file will.
I don't see you have answered my question of whether a test has to take into consideration how a sequence of numbers has been obtained. Also what you wrote above seems to be less than clear. Do you suggest that Mauerer's test is extremely good in deciding whether a sequence is TRULY random? (I think Maurer's test is good for investigating PRNG squences but maybe not used as a criterion between pseudo- randomness and true randomness (whatever that may be defined)). What if some PRNGs pass Maurer's test? M. K. Shen