Stronger Cryptography For Every Device, Everywhere

10/01/2018

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by   JV Roig, et al.

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Generating secure random numbers is a central problem in cryptography that needs a reliable source of enough computing entropy. Without enough entropy available - meaning no good source of secure random numbers - a device is susceptible to cryptographic protocol failures such as weak, factorable, or predictable keys, which lead to various security and privacy vulnerabilities. In this paper, the author presents a significant improvement: a reliable way for any CPU-powered device - from the small, simple CPUs in embedded devices, to larger, more complex CPUs in modern servers - to collect virtually unlimited entropy through side channel measurements of trivial CPU operations, making the generation of secure random numbers an easy, safe, and reliable operation.