From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id ; Mon, 20 Aug 2001 10:30:18 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id ; Mon, 20 Aug 2001 10:30:09 -0400 Received: from [195.63.194.11] ([195.63.194.11]:58384 "EHLO mail.stock-world.de") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id ; Mon, 20 Aug 2001 10:29:55 -0400 Message-ID: <3B811DD6.9648BE0E@evision-ventures.com> Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 16:25:26 +0200 From: Martin Dalecki X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.77 [en] (X11; U; Linux 2.4.3-12 i686) X-Accept-Language: en, de MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Alex Bligh - linux-kernel CC: Johan Adolfsson , Robert Love , Oliver Xymoron , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, riel@conectiva.com.br Subject: Re: [PATCH] let Net Devices feed Entropy, updated (1/2) In-Reply-To: <3B80EADC.234B39F0@evision-ventures.com> <2248596630.998319423@[10.132.112.53]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Alex Bligh - linux-kernel wrote: > > > The device get's powerd up at a random time for the attacker. > > That's entierly sufficient if you assume that your checksum function > > f(i) hat the property that there is no function g, where we have > > f(i+1)=g(f(i)), where g has a polynomial order over the time domain. > > i is unknown for the attacker. > > So, your argument is that there is no point in all this > entropy collection anyway. So if everything is hunky dory, > why have /dev/random block under such a circumstance? You are entierly right. The primary reson of invention of /dev/random was the need for a bit of salt to the initial packet sequence number inside the networking code in linux. And for this purspose the whole /dev/*random stuff is INDEED a gratitious overdesign. For anything else crypto related it just doesn't cut the corner. If you look at the archives I have objected it strongly in the history.