Subject: Re: Guidelines for hardware RNG drivers in NetBSD
To: None <tech-kern@netbsd.org, tech-security@netbsd.org>
From: Travis H. <travis@subspacefield.org>
List: tech-kern
Date: 12/05/2006 17:36:59
On Wed, Dec 06, 2006 at 07:47:33AM +1100, Daniel Carosone wrote:
> Testing and analysis of the raw data should go direct for
> pretty pictures, feeding consumers should go via mixing (possibly
> together with others sources) in the rnd pool.

It's a pity that there's no easy way to do continual quality
checks on the output without copying it out to userland and
back in to the pool.  I suppose we could, theoretically, but
it'd be much slower, and would expose the rnd inputs more
than what is desirable.  Are there any ideas on how one could
allow a parallel or serial quality check in a relatively
secure way?  I suppose you could make it a kernel config
option; that way it's unlikely that an intruder could enable
it without detection, but at least it would be there if you
really know what you're doing...
-- 
"Cryptography is nothing more than a mathematical framework for
discussing various paranoid delusions." -- Don Alvarez
<URL:http://www.subspacefield.org/~travis/> -><-