Pseudorandom Generator Entropy Harvesting for Encryption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cryptography systems face challenges in maintaining the required level of entropy for randomness, especially when faced with imperfect randomness or attacks that degrade the quality of randomness used in encryption systems, potentially compromising security against adversarial actions.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a pseudorandom generator that refreshes its state using entropy harvested from the message to be encrypted, ensuring that additional entropy is added to maintain the specified level of security, even when the initial entropy is insufficient, thereby enhancing the security of the encryption scheme against imperfect randomness and adversarial attacks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a pseudorandom generator is used with insufficient initial entropy, then the encryption system can operate with simpler initialization, but the security level deteriorates due to degraded randomness quality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by harvesting entropy from the message content before the encryption operation. The system pre-processes the message to extract entropy bits and loads them into the pseudorandom generator's entropy pool before encryption begins, ensuring sufficient entropy is available without complicating the initialization process
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies self-service by using the message itself as the source of entropy. The entropy harvesting process extracts random bits directly from the message content, making the system self-sufficient for entropy requirements without needing external entropy sources or complex initialization procedures
2Reliability
If additional entropy harvesting is implemented to maintain security, then the security level improves, but the processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the entropy harvesting function with the existing encryption processing pipeline. The same processing components that handle the message for encryption are also used to extract entropy bits, combining two functions into a unified process that avoids additional hardware or software complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies parameter changes by dynamically adjusting the entropy pool based on the extracted entropy bits. The pseudorandom generator's internal state parameters are modified to reflect the harvested entropy, allowing the system to adapt to varying entropy conditions without structural changes
3Reliability
If the pseudorandom generator state is refreshed with message entropy, then the randomness quality improves, but the processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuity of useful action by performing entropy harvesting continuously during the message processing phase. Rather than adding a separate entropy extraction step, the system extracts entropy bits while the message is already being processed, maintaining continuous productive action without idle entropy collection phases
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and computer programs for generating random values for encryption operations are described. In some examples, information from a message to be encrypted can be used to refresh the state of a pseudorandom generator. In some aspects, a state parameter of the pseudorandom generator is modified based on information in the message. Modifying the state parameter changes the state parameter from a prior state to a refreshed state based on the information in the message. A random output value is obtained by the pseudorandom generator in the refreshed state. The message is encrypted based on the random output value.