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Article #401Re: padrand(); /* random numbers from one-time pads */
From: Paul Koning
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 1990 13:47
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 1990 13:47
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1467 bytes
|>... |> The C source of the padrand() routine posted here, is hereby placed in |> the Public Domain. A primitive driver (main) is enclosed for convenient |> testing. The verbal description of the algorithm immediately below, is |> "Copyright 1990, Istvan Mohos, All Rights Reserved". |> ... |> Although the text of one-time pads is non-cyclic, the byte stream is |> subject to regularities of character distribution as the function of the |> language. |> ... |> The program is somewhat wasteful of pad text, and is intended for Unix |> environments where on-line text is abundant (as evidenced by directories |> /usr/dict, /usr/man, ~TeX/TeXdoc and the like) but hardware random |> number generators are absent. It seems to me that you have missed the one most crucial part of the definition of "one time pad": not only must the one-time pad be non-cyclic, but the individual bytes must be random. When you're talking about using text files as a source of key data, you aren't describing a one-time pad at all. Instead, what you have is a "book code" or "running key cypher". Those are easy to solve; the method for doing so dates back to the 19th century. (See D. Kahn, "The Codebreakers") paul
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From: koning@koning.enet.dec.com (Paul Koning) Newsgroups: sci.crypt,alt.sources Subject: Re: padrand(); /* random numbers from one-time pads */ Message-ID: <1990Sep14.094334@koning.enet.dec.com> Date: 14 Sep 90 13:47:43 GMT