How to predict congruential generators

  • Authors:
  • Hugo Krawczyk

  • Affiliations:
  • -

  • Venue:
  • CRYPTO '89 Proceedings on Advances in cryptology
  • Year:
  • 1989

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Abstract

In this paper we show how to predict a large class of pseudorandom number generators. We consider congruential generators which output a sequence of integers s0, s1,... where si is computed by the recurrence si 驴 驴j=1k 驴j 驴j(s0,s1,...si-1) (mod m) for integers m and 驴j and integer functions 驴j, j=1...,k. Our predictors are efficient, provided that the functions 驴j are computable (over the integers) in polynomial time. These predictors have access to the elements of the sequence prior to the element being predicted, but they do not know the modulus m or the coefficients 驴j the generator actually works with. This extends previous results about the predictability of such generators. In particular, we prove that multivariate polynomial generators, i.e. generators where si, = P(si-n,...,si-1) (mod m), for a polynomial P of fixed degree in n variables, are efficiently predictable.