A team from the Indian Institute of Science has developed a “record-breaking” true random number generator (TRNG), which has the potential to improve data encryption and provide improved security for sensitive digital data such as credit card details, passwords, and other types of personal information. IISc, which is situated in Bengaluru, said in a press release on Friday that the research paper that describes this gadget has been published in the journal ACS Nano.
The vast majority of activities that we carry out online are protected by encryption. According to Nithin Abraham, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Electrical Communication Engineering (ECE) at IISc, “the strength of this encryption relies on the quality of random number generation.”
Kausik Majumdar, an associate professor in the ECE department, is the team leader at IISc, while Abraham is a member of the team.
Only authorized users who access a cryptographic “key” can decode encrypted material. This is because the “key” is used to unlock the encryption. However, to prevent hacking, the key must be unexpected, so it must be created at random.
Pseudo-random number generators, often known as PRNGs, are commonly used in computers to create cryptographic keys. These generators depend on mathematical formulas or pre-programmed tables to produce numbers that appear random but are not.
In contrast, a TRNG generates random numbers by extracting them from physical processes that are intrinsically unpredictable, making it a more secure method.
The “breakthrough” TRNG gadget developed by the IISc uses the random motion of electrons to produce random numbers.
An artificial electron trap is created by stacking atomically thin layers of materials such as graphene and black phosphorus. This creates the artificial electron trap. When an electron is held inside the gadget, the current that is being measured rises, but when the electron is released, the current reduces. Because electrons enter and exit the trap in a way that is entirely random, the current that is measured will likewise fluctuate arbitrarily. According to the statement, the outcome of this alteration will be determined by the created random number.
“You are unable to make an accurate prediction about the precise moment that the electron will enter the trap.” According to Majumdar’s explanation, “there is thus an intrinsic randomness that is encoded in this process.”
Majumdar’s expectations were surpassed by the device’s performance on the standard tests for cryptographic applications developed by the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
“When the idea initially struck me, I knew it would be a good random number generator, but I didn’t anticipate a record-high min-entropy,” he adds. “When the idea first struck me, I knew it would be a good random number generator.”
The performance of TRNGs may be measured using a parameter called min-entropy. Its value may be anything between 0 (totally predictable) to 1, inclusive (completely random). The gadget developed in Majumdar’s lab had a record-high minimum entropy of 0.98. This is a considerable improvement above previously reported values, which were in the range of 0.89.
Abraham claims, “Among TRNGs, ours has been found to have the greatest possible minimum entropy.” The optically based TRNGs are bulkier and more cumbersome than the electrical TRNG that the team has developed, which is also more compact.
According to Majumdar, “since our gadget is entirely electrical, it is possible to construct millions of devices of this kind on a single chip.”
In order to make the gadget more helpful, he and his colleagues want to make it run more quickly and devise a novel method of manufacturing that will make it possible to manufacture these chips in large quantities.
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