Real Chaos, Real Security: A Physical Approach to Blockchain Randomness
Why Strong Randomness Matters Every secure cryptographic system relies on a single principle: some values must be impossible for an attacker to predict. Randomness matters because it prevents attackers from predicting secrets. Many cryptographic operations depend on values that must remain entirely unpredictable; even a slight bias shrinks the search space and makes attacks easier. A predictable random number generator functions like an unlocked door. Randomness also protects protocols from replay and forgery. Exchanging unpredictable nonces proves freshness. If the “random” numbers behind keys, nonces, or challenges are even slightly predictable, attackers gain a dangerous advantage like to impersonate devices (hm-hm PS3 hack), forge sessions, or inject replayed messages into secure channels. The challenge is that computers are inherently deterministic. Given the same input, they always produce the same output. That property is perfect for reproducible computation but ter...