From: markh@wimsey.bc.ca (Mark C. Henderson)
Date: Sun, 9 May 93 11:37:26 PDT
To: William Oldacre <cypherpunks@toad.com>
Subject: Re: RNG from zener is easy.
Message-ID: <m0nsGDx-0002GlC@van-bc.wimsey.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


> To: >Internet:cypherpunks@toad.com
> 
> A simple XOR with the message text is enough to create an unbreakable 
> cyphertext.  Problem is, that both parties have to have exact copies 
> ...
> I'm glad Liam brought this up.  It is a good way to produce an 
> absolutely unbreakable code.  This, providing the design is good and 
> no patterns are allowed to appear (introduced by amplifier 
> oscillation or nearby noise sources) in the generated numbers.  If 
> there is any interest out there perhaps we (Liam or I) could produce 
> a few for testing.
Yes, I'm certainly interested.

A practical use for such a device would be to generate "random" data
for use by PGP or RIPEM. Both need "random" data to generate session
keys and public/secret keypairs. In fact, the whole security of these
programs depends upon the unpredictability of the "random" data used.

Mark

-- 
Mark Henderson
markh@wimsey.bc.ca
RIPEM key available by key server/finger/E-mail
  MD5OfPublicKey: F1F5F0C3984CBEAF3889ADAFA2437433