Re: Intel announcements at RSA '99

[James A. Donald]

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At 12:21 PM 1/25/99 -0500, Dan Geer wrote:
> The falsifiable hypothesis for a multiplier, say, is that
> it  gets the right answer.  The falsifiable hypothesis for
> a RNG is a long slog through volumes of output.

If the random number generator is sufficiently simple and
well understood, then the fact that it turns out random
looking stuff is strong reason to believe that it is working
as designed.

If the random number generator elaborately massages its
output, for example by running it through SHA, then it would
be very difficult to determine that it is working as
designed.

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         James A. Donald
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