A special experimental setup produces certifiably random numbers to use in the creation of "unhackable" messages
Computers everywhere use random numbers as keys to lock or unlock encrypted information. Many processes for producing these keys — such as the random number generator that's probably on your computer right now — use an algorithm that spits out a seemingly arbitrary string of numbers. Other approaches try to make use of real-world randomness, for instance measuring the length of time between keystrokes or the fluctuating temperature of a computer server, to produce random numbers.
But such methods are still susceptible to attack. Savvy hackers can either tamper with a random number generator or learn its underlying principles to figure out what numbers it's going to produce. In 2012, security researchers found that tens of thousands of internet servers were vulnerable to hacking because of their reliance on poor-quality random number generators.
Quantum mechanics, on the other hand, offers truly random outcomes.
the method took about 10 minutes to produce 1,024 random strings, whereas current cryptographic processes would need far faster number generators.
The new technique's first real-world use will come when it's incorporated into NIST's randomness beacon, a public source of randomness for researchers studying unpredictability, Bierhorst said.
Comments
participate in discussions
Please login ? to participate in the comments
New customer Start here.