Re: One-Time_Pad

From: Michael Amling (nospam_at_nospam.com)
Date: 10/31/03 

Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 14:40:11 GMT

Neko wrote:
> Ok. Lets say that I have a purely random (not pseudo) source that can
> generate any type of data (binary, hex, digits etc...) and I have a
> computer to print it in any form I want. After I print this off, I
> would make it into a little book that would be highly portable. I would
> generate a copy of this pad and give it to my accomplice, and we would
> keep our pads in sync by tearing off any pages that we use, if even we
> only use one element of that pad. Maybe we'll even have two pads each,
> one for messages both ways. What would be the best way to have the pad
> set up? Should I do letters, and add them modulo 26, should I do
> digits? If so, how many? I've seen a pad with rows of random 5-digit

   Since those decisions don't affect OTP security, pick the format
that's easiest for the user to use. Since you're the user, that's up to you.
   If it were me, I would probably want enough symbols to send source
code, e.g. ()+-=!^[]{};:,'"|?<>/*&% and space in addition to digits,
uppercase and lowercase. I'd use two decimal digits per symbol and print
the correspondence between the symbols and the decimals as a border
around each OTP page. But that's just me.

> numbers that looked pretty cool. Also, how on earth would I get it from
> my computer to an easy way to cut it all out and attach the pages
> together?

   Sheets of labels with no glue or Post-it strength glue? If you're
making an actual pad, use ink that won't rub off onto the *** above.

> How many letters per page should I make it? I just want to
> know if any of you make one time pads, and if so, how do you do it?
> Again, any and all advice will be helpful. Thank you!!!

   The manual MAC is still an open problem.

--Mike Amling