System and method for cryptographic key generation
View Patent ↗A system and method for generating a random, unpredictable cryptographic security key by the use of a memory device, such as a flash RAM memory chip, internal to a computing device. The system and method of the present invention allows for the generation of a cryptographic security key without the need for additional hardware that is specifically configured to generate key codes. One embodiment of the invention involves a method comprising the steps of executing a function on a flash memory device; timing the completion of the function executed on the flash memory device, thereby generating a time value; and deriving the key code from the generated time value.
1. A method for generating a key code, wherein the method comprises:
executing a function on a flash memory device;
timing the function executed on the flash memory device, thereby generating a time value; and
deriving the key code from the generated time value.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the key code is derived by the use of a random number generator that utilizes the time value as a base number.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the function executed on the flash memory device is an erase command.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
deriving a seed from the time value; and
deriving the key code by the use of a random number generator utilizing the seed.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the size of the seed is determined by user input.
6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the size of the seed is determined by input from an external device.
7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the size of the seed is a fixed value.
8. A method for generating a key code, wherein the method comprises:
executing a function on a memory device;
timing the function executed on the memory device, thereby generating a time value;
deriving a seed from the generated time value; and
deriving the key code by the use of a random number generator utilizing the seed.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the memory device comprises flash memory.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the memory device comprises random-access memory and read-only memory.
11. A system for generating a key code, comprising:
a memory device;
a computer device operative to time a function executed on the memory device, thereby generating a time value; and
the computer device further operative to derive the key code from the generated time value.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the memory device comprises flash memory.