Please Pick a Number – DZone
On Randomness in Data
Picking a random number might seem to be a no-brainer for us humans. We just close our eyes and say the first number that comes to our minds. But is this really the case for computers? By design, they should be pretty predictable. With the same input data and program, the computer should always yield identical results.
Yet, randomness is very crucial in IT. For instance, random data is used to produce keys of certificates or access tokens. If the generated content could be predicted by attackers,…