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Security Risk, may be acceptable for certain environments
Authored by: iixhd on Jan 31, '04 10:56:24PM

If I could edit the post above I would. I made a mistake, and a very specific element of security is broken by linking SystemEntropyCache to /dev/null. However, I still recommend this hint to users who use their computers for personal, disconnected, work.

The system is able to generate random numbers to allow proper function even without the cache. The system stores the random numbers in memory; SystemEntropyCache is needed only at boot time (please see the other comments for reference). Note that the computer is able to regenerate the cache when the cache has been deleted. A single user computer should be secure if it is rebooted only when it is disconnected from the network. Use of the sleep function eliminates the need to reboot almost entirely.

Working comfortably without the pauses or sound caused by a HD spinning up and down is important to me. My system is not a public system in any way, and I am not running any optional services on startup. I spend most of my time in a word processor, not on a network, because I have dial-up at home. I recommend this hint to anybody that shares my computing environment. I do not recommend this hint to people who keep their computers in a service or public environment.

Thanks for all the feedback.



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