[Cryptography] Uncorrelated sequence length, was: A TRNG review per day

Bear bear at sonic.net
Sat Oct 25 20:08:54 EDT 2014


On Fri, 2014-10-24 at 23:24 -0400, Jerry Leichter wrote:
> > While 256 bits plus a 
> > CPRNG is enough to prevent known and practical means of predicting 
> > the stream of numbers created, it does not constitute proof that 
> > a stream of outputs of that length *CANNOT* be predicted.  It 
> > restricts the uncorrelated sequence length to be provably no more 
> > than 256 bits.  Actually, it forces the uncorrelated sequence 
> > length to be provably less than 256 bits assuming a CPRNG....

> A CPRNG that is at least as "hard" as the algorithms with which it's
> used cannot provide a point of attack.  For example, if you rely on
> AES-256 for your cryptography, and your protocols are secure under the
> assumption (as is common these days) that AES-256 is indistinguishable
> from a random sequence, then generating your random numbers using
> AES-256 in counter mode with a true random key exposes you to no attack
> that wasn't already present.

You're right that a CPRNG that is "hard" doesn't provide a point of 
attack.  But, like most of our ciphers, we don't have any real 
mathematical proof that a particular CPRNG is in fact "hard".  All 
we really know is that we haven't found the soft spots yet.  

A provably long uncorrelated sequence length is the same kind of 
"hard" guarantee as a one time pad -- although, like a one-time pad, 
it applies only to sequences shorter than that length. 

I think that PRNGs should be able to prove a minimum uncorrelated
sequence length (hence require RNG state) that is longer than 
sequences (specifically keys) whose unpredictability we rely on 
for the security of our other components. 


				Bear





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