In a major breakthrough, computer scientists at the Austin-based University of Texas have developed a novel means to produce genuinely random numbers, which can be employed to encrypt date and enhance cyber security.
The latest system developed by the scientists helps to create accurately random numbers with very less computational endeavor compared to other existing methods. The new invention may make it appreciably easier to ensure superior levels of security for almost everything including consumer credit card transactions and even military communications, IANS reported.
Moreover, the new method can also help to make electronic voting further secure, perform statistically important polls as well as replicate intricate systems like the Earth's climate more accurately. According to David Zuckerman, a computer science professor and a member of the research team, he has been coming across the problem time and again for over two decades and now he is delighted on having solved the issue.
It is worth mentioning here that Zuckerman and Eshan Chattopadhyay, graduate student, released a draft paper in an online forum for the public illustrating the method they used to create random numbers. According to the draft paper, the method invented by these scientists chooses two weakly unsystematic series of numbers and transforms them into one sequence of accurately random numbers.
The weakly random sequences, like stock market prices or air temperatures sampled over a period of time, harbor expected patterns. On the other hand, truly random sequences are like a toss and have nothing predictable about them.
It has been established that the new method developed by scientists at the University of Texas is much more reliable than the previous means, which either required that one of the two source sequences be truly random or both source sequences be nearly truly random, News Nation reported.
This, in fact, makes more difficult for hackers to crack the data. Data encryption is vital especially when it is used to secure credit card purchases and bank transactions, ensuring that personal medical data is kept private and shield military communications from enemies in addition to several other practical applications.
Now, Zuckerman and his student Chattopadhyay will present their invention at the annual Symposium on Theory of Computing (STOC) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in June.
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