INITIAL SEED MANAGEMENT FOR PSEUDORANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR

摘要

A secure seeding and reseeding scheme is provided for pseudorandom number generators by using a pre-stored initialization seed. This scheme initializes a pseudorandom number generator into an unknown state even when entropy collection is unavailable. A primary seed file and a shadow seed file are maintained with initialization seed information in a secure file system. If the primary seed file is corrupted, the pseudorandom number generator is seeded with the content of the shadow seed file. Additionally, a trusted timer or clock may be mixed with the pre-stored initialization seed to add entropy even when the pre-stored seed information has been compromised.