Curious RNG stalemate [was: use of cpunks]

Eugen Leitl eugen at leitl.org
Fri Oct 18 00:54:46 PDT 2013


On Fri, Oct 18, 2013 at 08:16:51AM +0100, Cathal Garvey (Phone) wrote:
> Accepted, entirely, but if "noisy diodes" are all you need for quantum entropy, 
> why are designs for OSHW entropy generators so scarce? 

Are they?

http://www.maximintegrated.com/app-notes/index.mvp/id/3469

This is analog electronics 101. All you have is to sample
that at sufficient rate on the cheap. That used to be a problem, but
no longer is

http://www.rtl-sdr.com/

> I suggested smoke alarms not through radioactivity-fetishism but because of ubiquity and low cost, likely low difficulty to adapt.

We do not want a dinky little entropy drip. We want a
regular firehose. The USB RTL samples at 1.4 MSamples/s. 
Total part costs is probably 20 USD, in bulk.

Why is nobody selling a kit like that? Because worrying about
sufficient entropy in crypto settings is a terribly niche thing.
Sadly.

Now try for a decent clock. (Hint: time-nuts. And did you
know they use CSACs for IED trigger jamming?).



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