3 ms·

You can't reduce the entropy just by adding low entropy data to the pool. If I hand you 256bits of entropy you can hash "a" into it as many times as you like -

You can't reduce the entropy just by adding low entropy data to the pool. If I hand you 256bits of entropy you can hash "a" into it as many times as you like - it won't reduce the entropy. The only thing I can think here is that the attacker would trick the system into thinking it had hit its 256bit entropy minimum before it actually had. At which point... I don't know what they gain, but sure, it's at least a dick move.

semi-extrinsic 5y ago
MENLO PARK, March 30 (Associated Press) - In what was widely characterized as "at least a dick move", malicious hackers of unknown origin were discovered yesterday to have been spamming the entropy pool of thousands of McDonalds self service kiosks with the phrase "i can haz jalapeno cheezeburger" during system boot. While the direct ramifications of this action remain unclear, informal discussions are already being held in various constellations in congress to probe whether the FCC should be given an extended mandate to regulate randomness, according to several sources close to the food sales tech stack regulations sector who requested to remain anonymous. In response to the swift call for regulatory action, several privately held businesses that supply PoS devices for tea shops have pledged to promptly deploy OTA updates that replace all sources of randomness in their systems with an infinite repetition of the second amendment. Said Harry Parks, 37, of International Teaselling Machines Inc. - "In this country it is the given right of each man to select the randomness that he wants, so be damned, and I will happily sacrifice the security of my customers to make a stand for the unique freedom and liberty we have in this country."