Re: [PATCH] virtio: rng: add derating factor for use by hwrng core

From: Theodore Ts'o
Date: Wed Aug 13 2014 - 18:44:54 EST


On Thu, Aug 14, 2014 at 04:39:07AM +0930, Rusty Russell wrote:
> The khwrngd thread is started when a hwrng device of sufficient
> quality is registered. The virtio-rng device is backed by the
> hypervisor, and we trust the hypervisor to provide real entropy.
>
> A malicious hypervisor is a scenario that's irrelevant -- such a setup
> is bound to cause all sorts of badness, and a compromised hwrng is not
> the biggest threat.

s/malicious/malicious or badly implemented/

s/is not the biggest threat/is the least of the user's worries/

> Given this, we are certain the quality of randomness we receive is
> perfectly trustworthy. Hence, we use 100% for the factor, indicating
> maximum confidence in the source.

s/we are certain/we might as well assume that/

I won't insist on the wording changes, but I think it's a better way
of phrasing things.

Cheers,

- Ted

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