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International Workshop on Fast Software Encryption

FSE 1998: Fast Software Encryption pp 168–188Cite as

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Cryptanalytic Attacks on Pseudorandom Number Generators

Cryptanalytic Attacks on Pseudorandom Number Generators

  • John Kelsey5,
  • Bruce Schneier5,
  • David Wagner6 &
  • …
  • Chris Hall5 
  • Conference paper
  • First Online: 16 October 1998
  • 2565 Accesses

  • 102 Citations

  • 3 Altmetric

Part of the Lecture Notes in Computer Science book series (LNCS,volume 1372)

Abstract

In this paper we discuss PRNGs: the mechanisms used by real-world secure systems to generate cryptographic keys, initialization vectors, “random” nonces, and other values assumed to be random. We argue that PRNGs are their own unique type of cryptographic primitive, and should be analyzed as such. We propose a model for PRNGs, discuss possible attacks against this model, and demonstrate the applicability of the model (and our attacks) to four real-world PRNGs. We close with a discussion of lessons learned about PRNG design and use, and a few open questions.

Keywords

  • Hash Function
  • Block Cipher
  • Stream Cipher
  • Pseudorandom Number Generator
  • Entropy Sample

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Counterpane Systems, USA

    John Kelsey, Bruce Schneier & Chris Hall

  2. University of California Berkeley, Berkeley

    David Wagner

Authors
  1. John Kelsey
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  2. Bruce Schneier
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  3. David Wagner
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  4. Chris Hall
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ecole Normale Supérieure, DMI, 45, rue d’Ulm, F-75230, Paris Cedex 05, France

    Serge Vaudenay

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© 1998 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Cite this paper

Kelsey, J., Schneier, B., Wagner, D., Hall, C. (1998). Cryptanalytic Attacks on Pseudorandom Number Generators. In: Vaudenay, S. (eds) Fast Software Encryption. FSE 1998. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1372. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-69710-1_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-69710-1_12

  • Published: 16 October 1998

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-64265-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-69710-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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