Jun 24, 2019 To combat this issue, the C Standard Library provides a set of functions from the Random header that allows users to generate random numbers from well-defined engines and distributions. The implementation of the function that generates a random string will make use of three key features present in the facilities of the Random header. P =337 q = 149 phi = 49728 Encryption key = 8893 k = 7 Private key = 39 (There is another problem here: Encryption and Private keys should be the same. No where in the code have i changed ekey during decryption.) Public key = 39 Modulus = 50213 End Update 4 But i get the same value for Public key and private key. What is the mistake in the. Using the Custom Selection Functions 1: Making your selection The black and white buttons are representations of black and white keys on a keyboard. Click on a button to add that key to your selection list. A custom list of any number between 1 and 45 keys can be created.
One mathematical function in C programming that’s relatively easy to grasp is the rand() function. It generates random numbers. Though that may seem silly, it’s the basis for just about every computer game ever invented. Random numbers are a big deal in programming.
A computer cannot generate truly random numbers. Instead, it produces what are known as pseudo–random numbers. That’s because conditions inside the computer can be replicated. Therefore, serious mathematicians scoff that any value a computer calls random isn’t a truly random number. Can you hear them scoffing?
The rand() function is the simplest of C’s random-number functions. It requires the stdlib.h header file, and it coughs up an int value that’s supposedly random. Now, That’s Random demonstrates sample code.
NOW, THAT’S RANDOM
Now, That’s Random uses a nested for loop to display 100 random values. The rand() function in Line 13 generates the values. The printf() function in Line 14 displays the values by using the %d conversion character, which displays int values.
Exercise 1: Create a new project by using the source code shown in Now, That’s Random. Build and run to behold 100 random values.
Exercise 2: Modify the code so that all the values displayed are in the range 0 through 20.
Here’s a hint for Now, That’s Random: Use the modulus assignment operator to limit the range of the random numbers. The format looks like this:
r is the number returned from the rand() function. %= is the modulus assignment operator. n is the range limit, plus 1. After the preceding statement, values returned are in the range 0 through n-1. So if you want to generate values between 1 and 100, you would use this formula:
Just to give some credit to the snooty mathematicians who claim that computers generate pseudo-random numbers, run the program you generated from Exercise 2. Observe the output. Run the program again. See anything familiar?
The rand() function is good at generating a slew of random values, but they’re predictable values. To make the output less predictable, you need to seed the random-number generator. That’s done by using the srand() function.
Like the rand() function, the srand() function requires the stdlib.h header, shown at Line 2 in Even More Randomness. The function requires an unsigned int value, seed, which is declared at Line 6. The scanf() function at Line 10 reads in the unsigned value by using the %u placeholder. Then the srand() function uses the seed value in Line 11.
EVEN MORE RANDOMNESS
The rand() function is used at Line 16, although the results are now based on the seed, which is set when the program runs.
Exercise 3: Create a new project using the source code shown in Even More Randomness. Build it. Run the program a few times, trying different seed values. The output is different every time.
Alas, the random values that are generated are still predictable when you type the same seed number. In fact, when the value 1 is used as the seed, you see the same “random” values you saw in Exercise 1, when you didn’t even use srand()!
There has to be a better way.
The best way to write a random-number generator is not to ask the user to type a seed, but rather to fetch a seed from elsewhere. In More Truly Random Than Ever, the seed value is pulled from the system clock by using the time() function.
MORE TRULY RANDOM THAN EVER
The time() function returns information about the current time of day, a value that’s constantly changing. The NULL argument helps solve some problems, but time() returns an ever-changing value.
The (unsigned) part of the statement ensures that the value returned by the time() function is an unsigned integer. That’s a technique known as typecasting.
The bottom line is that the srand() function is passed a seed value, courtesy of the time() function, and the result is that the rand() function generates values that are more random than you’d get otherwise.
Exercise 4: Type the source code from More Truly Random Than Ever and build the project. Run it a few times to ensure that the numbers are as random as the computer can get them.
-->hProv
Handle of a cryptographic service provider (CSP) created by a call toCryptAcquireContext.
dwLen
Number of bytes of random data to be generated.
pbBuffer
Buffer to receive the returned data. This buffer must be at least dwLen bytes in length.
Optionally, the application can fill this buffer with data to use as an auxiliary random seed.
If the function succeeds, the return value is nonzero (TRUE).
6 character key generator c. I have now appended my code based on everyone's answers and have posted the new version under 'EDIT:' in my opening question, feel free to check it out. $begingroup$ @CherubimAnand Funnily enough, I was actually just thinking about that a while ago and I just figured out how to do it now:) I've given up votes (although they are not shown publicly because I do not have enough reputation yet) and I have marked all three answers as acceptable, as all the answers are brilliant and have been helpful.
If the function fails, the return value is zero (FALSE). For extended error information, callGetLastError.
The error codes prefaced by 'NTE' are generated by the particular CSP being used. Some possible error codes are listed in the following table.
Return code | Description |
---|---|
| One of the parameters specifies a handle that is not valid. |
| One of the parameters contains a value that is not valid. This is most often a pointer that is not valid. |
| The hProv parameter does not contain a valid context handle. |
| The function failed in some unexpected way. |
The data produced by this function is cryptographically random. It is far more random than the data generated by the typical random number generator such as the one shipped with your C compiler.
This function is often used to generate random initialization vectors and salt values.
Software random number generators work in fundamentally the same way. They start with a random number, known as the seed, and then use an algorithm to generate a pseudo-random sequence of bits based on it. The most difficult part of this process is to get a seed that is truly random. This is usually based on user input latency, or the jitter from one or more hardware components.
With Microsoft CSPs, CryptGenRandom uses the same random number generator used by other security components. This allows numerous processes to contribute to a system-wide seed. CryptoAPI stores an intermediate random seed with every user. To form the seed for the random number generator, a calling application supplies bits it might have—for instance, mouse or keyboard timing input—that are then combined with both the stored seed and various system data and user data such as the process ID and thread ID, the system clock, the system time, the system counter, memory status, free disk clusters, the hashed user environment block. This result is used to seed the pseudorandom number generator (PRNG). In Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 (SP1) and later, an implementation of the AES counter-mode based PRNG specified in NIST Special Publication 800-90 is used. In Windows Vista, Windows Storage Server 2003, and Windows XP, the PRNG specified in Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 186-2 is used. If an application has access to a good random source, it can fill the pbBuffer buffer with some random data before calling CryptGenRandom. The CSP then uses this data to further randomize its internal seed. It is acceptable to omit the step of initializing the pbBuffer buffer before calling CryptGenRandom.
The following example shows the generation of 8 random bytes. These can be used to create cryptographic keys or for any application that uses random numbers. For an example that includes the complete context for this example, see Example C Program: Duplicating a Session Key.
Minimum supported client | Windows XP [desktop apps only] |
Minimum supported server | Windows Server 2003 [desktop apps only] |
Target Platform | Windows |
Header | wincrypt.h |
Library | Advapi32.lib |
DLL | Advapi32.dll |