[Cryptography] Photon beam splitters for "true" random number generation ?

[John-Mark Gurney]

Arnold Reinhold wrote this message on Thu, Dec 17, 2015 at 13:50 -0500:
> 
> The only remedy I see is to obtain random numbers for cryptography from more than one source and to have at least one of those sources built from general purpose hardware devices that are not intended for cryptographic use. It is much less feasible for even a state actor to subvert devices built in large quantity for a mass market, especially if they do not know in advance what software will be used. One example is a Raspberry Pi with its optional camera module. In this regard, I think a well documented open-source software/firmware TRNG package that runs on an off-the-shelf FPGA board would be a valuable addition to what is now a limited tool chest. 

I recently added this to my cron tab:
3       *       *       *       *       root    sleep $(jot -r 1 120 1); dd if=/dev/dsp bs=512 count=5 2>/dev/null | sha512 > /dev/random

I don't have a microphone or anything plugged in, but I do have the
mixer values turned way up to catch the low bit noise...

Yes, if someone is near by, they could influence it, but then there
are other nastier things they could do.

-- 
  John-Mark Gurney				Voice: +1 415 225 5579

     "All that I will do, has been done, All that I have, has not."