Re: How can you verify the randomness that's coming from a hardware?

Quote from: BlackHatCoiner on April 25, 2022, 05:06:03 PM

So, how do we verify that the hardware doesn't generate predictable entropy, regardless of whether the wallet developers have bad intentions or not? I don't care about the OS, let's assume you use an open-source one; my focus is on those who build the hardware that is used to generate randomness.

I took a look at ledger nano and trezor hardwares. I found that there is a certification called AIS31-certified RNG which is the best in the world when talking about entropy.

Quote

https://support.ledger.com/hc/en-us/articles/360010073520-Quality-of-randomness?docs=true

Ledger hardware wallets use the Random Number Generator (RNG) embedded in the Secure Element to generate the confidential recovery phrase (also known as mnemonic seed). This RNG has been evaluated by a third-party laboratory and has obtained the highest level of certification: EAL5+, AIS-31.
...
Hardware RNGs like the one used in Ledger hardware wallets use several sources of randomness. On top of that, we also implemented standard post-processing retreatment. Clearly, AIS31-certified RNGs are the best RNGs in the world in terms of entropy, unpredictability, and robustness. For more information, please refer to the relevant certification methodology.
https://www.bsi.bund.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/BSI/Zertifizierung/Interpretationen/AIS_31_Functionality_classes_evaluation_methodology_for_true_RNG_e.pdf?__blob=publicationFile

Trezor doesn't have such a certification. However, as it is open source you could verify their randomness in github.
It would be interesting to see the verification or audition of a professional
https://wiki.trezor.io/Recovery_seed