Entropy Problems For Linux In the Cloud

CalTrumpet writes "Our research group recently spoke at Black Hat USA on the topic of cloud computing security. One of the interesting outcomes of our research was the discovery that the combination of virtualization technologies and public system images results in a problem for random number generation on guest operating systems. This is especially true for Linux, since its PRNG uses only a small set of entropy-gathering events, and virtual Linux images often generate SSH host keys within seconds of their initial boot. The slides are available; the PRNG vulnerability material begins at slide 63."

Comments

Much ado about nothing.

[Facegarden]

All this complaining over random numbers is silly. All you really have to do is use 5. It's just as random as any other number, and it's easy to generate a 5.
-Taylor

Re:Much ado about nothing.

[BobisOnlyBob]

This only proves how easy it is to generate a (5, Funny).

The generation of random numbers...

[ameline]

As has been so often said, the generation of random numbers is too important to be left to chance. :-)