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See Also<br />

• EGADS by Secure Software, Inc.: http://www.securesoftware.com/egads<br />

• Recipes 2.4, 11.2, 11.3, 11.5, 11.16, 11.19<br />

11.8 Getting Entropy or Pseudo-Randomness<br />

Using EGADS<br />

<strong>Problem</strong><br />

You want to use a library-level interface to EGADS for gathering entropy or getting<br />

cryptographically strong pseudo-random data. For example, you may need entropy<br />

on a system such as Microsoft Windows, where there is no built-in API for getting it.<br />

Solution<br />

Use the EGADS API as described in the following “Discussion” section.<br />

Discussion<br />

EGADS, the Entropy Gathering and Distribution System, is capable of performing<br />

many functions related to random numbers. First, it provides a high-level interface<br />

for getting random values, such as integers, numbers in a particular range, and so on.<br />

Second, EGADS does its own entropy collection, and has a library-level API for<br />

accessing the collector, making it a simple API to use for any of your randomness<br />

needs.<br />

EGADS supports a variety of Unix variants, including Darwin, FreeBSD, Linux,<br />

OpenBSD, and Solaris. In addition, it supports Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000,<br />

and Windows XP. Unfortunately, EGADS does not support Windows 95, Windows<br />

98, or Windows ME because it runs as a service (which is a subsystem that does not<br />

exist on these versions of Windows). EGADS is available from http://www.securesoftware.com/egads.<br />

EGADS is a good solution for the security-minded because it is conservative. It contains<br />

a conservative entropy collector and a conservative pseudo-random number<br />

generator. Both of these components have provable security properties that rely only<br />

Getting Entropy or Pseudo-Randomness Using EGADS | 599<br />

This is the Title of the Book, eMatter Edition<br />

Copyright © 2007 O’Reilly & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.

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