Security Group Seminar, 17th May 1994
- Speaker:
- Jonathan Hart, University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory
- Date:
- Tuesday 17th May at 4.15pm
- Place:
- Room TP4, Computer Laboratory
- Title:
- A TEST SUITE FOR RANDOM NUMBER GENERATORS
Many applications, such as key generation in cryptography, rely on
sources of unpredictable behaviour, which typically take the form of a
random or pseudorandom number generator. It is of importance to
designers and users to be able to evaluate the effectiveness of these
devices.
The talk will cover the evaluation techniques implemented by a software
suite we have written. A variety of statistical tests will be
discussed, together with more specific methods such as linear
complexity and the spectral test. Other tests, including sequence
complexity and the binary derivative, will be mentioned in connection
with the commercially available Crypt-XS package.
Some theoretical background will also be covered, including Yao's
theorem which provides justification for a statistical approach, and
the work of various authors on linear complexity.
Security Group Seminar, 17th May 1994 / Mark.Lomas@cl.cam.ac.uk