Category Archives: randomnumbers

Proof that HMAC-DRBG has No Back Doors

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New research: "Verified Correctness and Security of mbedTLS HMAC-DRBG," by Katherine Q. Ye, Matthew Green, Naphat Sanguansin, Lennart Beringer, Adam Petcher, and Andrew W. Appel. Abstract: We have formalized the functional specification of HMAC-DRBG (NIST 800-90A), and we have proved its cryptographic security — that its output is pseudorandom — using a hybrid game-based proof. We have also proved that… Continue reading Proof that HMAC-DRBG has No Back Doors→

Insider Attack on Lottery Software

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Eddie Tipton, a programmer for the Multi-State Lottery Association, secretly installed software that allowed him to predict jackpots. What’s surprising to me is how many lotteries don’t use real random number generators. What happened to picking golf balls out of wind-blown steel cages on television?… Continue reading Insider Attack on Lottery Software→

Hacking Slot Machines by Reverse-Engineering the Random Number Generators

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Interesting story: The venture is built on Alex’s talent for reverse engineering the algorithms — known as pseudorandom number generators, or PRNGs — that govern how slot machine games behave. Armed with this knowledge, he can predict when certain games are likeliest to spit out money­insight that he shares with a legion of field agents who do the organization’s grunt… Continue reading Hacking Slot Machines by Reverse-Engineering the Random Number Generators→

Predicting a Slot Machine’s PRNG

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Wired is reporting on a new slot machine hack. A Russian group has reverse-engineered a particular brand of slot machine — from Austrian company Novomatic — and can simulate and predict the pseudo-random number generator. The cell phones from Pechanga, combined with intelligence from investigations in Missouri and Europe, revealed key details. According to Willy Allison, a Las Vegas­-based casino… Continue reading Predicting a Slot Machine’s PRNG→

Hacking Lottery Machines

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Interesting article about how a former security director of the US Multi-State Lottery Association hacked the random-number generator in lottery software so he could predict the winning numbers. For several years, Eddie Tipton, the former security director of the US Multi-State Lottery Association, installed software code that allowed him to predict winning numbers on specific days of the year, investigators… Continue reading Hacking Lottery Machines→