[ale] random number generators

[dev null zero two]

I should also say that using he blocking interface of the Linux rng is only
effective if the sources feeding the entropy pools are conservatively
credited. If haveged is being used I imagine it is credited at full
entropy. If that's the case you may as well use the non-blocking interface
because your entropy-tracking is likely incorrect anyway.


On Tue, Mar 19, 2019 at 5:43 PM dev null zero two <dev.null.02 at gmail.com>
wrote:

>
> My understanding is Haveged has security issues and has to be confirgued
> in a special way to produce informational-theoretic entropy.
>
> The Intel parts may have HWRNGs on them. Is the Linux kernel pulling in
> any data from existing hwrng like Intel rdseed already? That Linux patch
> may do that too if it isn't already a feature of the Linux kerne.
>
>
> On Tue, Mar 19, 2019 at 5:19 PM Jim Kinney <jim.kinney at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> This looks promising.
>>
>> The system(s) are Intel, high core count file servers with 12 encrypted
>> partitions and 40G TCP and 40G IB networking. Linked through glusterfs they
>> are the storage cluster. I'm seeing haveged getting _used_ where it's not
>> been used before.
>>
>> On Tue, 2019-03-19 at 16:54 -0400, dev null zero two via Ale wrote:
>>
>> IIRC, the link I sent is for a Linux RNG patch that uses a FIPS approved
>> DRBG. If properly seeded, this can supply a ton of secure random numbers
>> without draining the entropy pool so much.
>>
>> On Tue, Mar 19, 2019 at 4:52 PM Alex Carver via Ale <ale at ale.org> wrote:
>>
>> On 2019-03-19 13:31, Jim Kinney via Ale wrote:
>> > When the entropy pool gets low and all 200TB are encrypted, writes can
>> > slow down.
>> >
>> > Looking at at hardware RNG devices. Found one that looks really cool,
>> > open, all the right buttons http://onerng.info/
>> >
>> > Anybody used something like this?
>>
>> I've seen mention more than once of using a Geiger counter with its
>> output tied to a serial port to generate random bits with a small
>> software shim to push them into entropy.  The advantage is that
>> radioactive decay is random and this kind of setup can't be influenced
>> from a distance.
>>
>>
>> Diode noise is not fully random, it has a specific energy distribution
>> so there will be bias in the results (in which case you're depending on
>> these guys to have smoothed/whitened the noise properly).  RF noise is
>> also not random when the receiver is stationary.  The RF landscape
>> doesn't change too much and also has inherent bias (cell towers, wifi
>> APs, lots of other transmitters that don't move and sit on the same
>> frequency).  The RF generator would depend on the features that do
>> change which are fewer and slower.
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>> --
>>
>> James P. Kinney III Every time you stop a school, you will have to build
>> a jail. What you gain at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a
>> dog on his own tail. It won't fatten the dog. - Speech 11/23/1900 Mark
>> Twain http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/
>>
>> --
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-- 
Sent from my mobile. Please excuse the brevity, spelling, and punctuation.
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