[Cryptography] [RNG] /dev/random initialisation

[Jerry Leichter]

On Nov 1, 2013, at 10:37 PM, James A. Donald wrote:
> I sent a dummy skype text that referenced a secret url on my own website, created for this test and never used before or since.
> 
> Shortly thereafter, got a hit on that url.
That's not the NSA - it's Microsoft.  This pattern has been reported befor; it's the result of Microsoft searching for "evil" URL's (those that have drive-by malware, mainly, though I suppose they look for other stuff, too).

See http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Malware-Spam-Skype-Reading-Messages-URLs,news-17036.html for one discussion.

(That's not to say NSA doesn't *also* do this, though with Microsoft already doing it, they would get more bang for the buck by just getting hold of the Microsoft databases.)
                                                        -- Jerry