Elliptic Curve Back Door - Computerphile
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN points to it as an intuitive explanation of how NIST standardized a backdoored generator.
What it is
Dr Mike Pound explains the suspected backdoor in the Dual_EC_DRBG random number generator and how elliptic curve constants could let someone predict its output.
Recommended by 1 HN commenters across 1 different months, 2021 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Recommends qzx_pierri · 2025-03 · on “NIST selects HQC as fifth algorithm for post-quantum encryption”
I recommend this video by Computerphile - He talks about how NIST may have been pressured into enforcing compromised (backdoored?) cryptography methods as a standard - Dual_EC_DRBG to be exact. He also gives a super cool/intuitive breakdown on how this came to be. It will definitely grow some food for thought. [this video]
Cites Arkanum · 2021-09 · on “The NSA's Backdoor in Dual EC”
Computerphile[1] did a video about the specifics of the backdoor in Dual EC DRBG. As i understand it, the hackers replaced a magic number Q with a different value than the standards compliant one, where they had pre-computed P. [1]: [this video]
Cites m-p-3 · 2022-06 · on “Dueling over Dual_EC_DRGB: Consequences of Corrupting a Standardization Process”
Long story short is that we don't know for sure, but there are some possibilities that's makes it plausible [this video]
Cites lcnPylGDnU4H9OF · 2024-11 · on “Nothing-up-my-sleeve number”
Computerphile video discussing the mathematics around how such a number could have been used in a practical way. [this video] [LINK] When people say, “Don’t roll your own crypto,” it’s because the field is littered with footguns and (to stretch an analogy) guns in cryptography launch explosives.