Interoperable Randomness Beacons

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en-us" xml:lang="en-us"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8" /> <title>Interoperable Randomness Beacons | CSRC</title> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> <meta http-equiv="content-style-type" content="text/css" /> <meta http-equiv="content-script-type" content="text/javascript" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" /> <meta name="msapplication-config" content="/CSRC/Media/images/favicons/browserconfig.xml" /> <meta name="theme-color" content="#000000" /> <meta name="google-site-verification" content="xbrnrVYDgLD-Bd64xHLCt4XsPXzUhQ-4lGMj4TdUUTA" /> <meta name="description" content="The Interoperable Randomness Beacons project at NIST intends to promote the availability of trusted public randomness as a public utility. This can be used for example for auditability and transparency of services that depend on randomized processes. The..." />  <meta name="dcterms.title" content="Interoperable Randomness Beacons | CSRC | CSRC" /> <meta name="dcterms.description" content="The Interoperable Randomness Beacons project at NIST intends to promote the availability of trusted public randomness as a public utility. This can be used for example for auditability and transparency of services that depend on randomized processes. The..." /> <meta name="dcterms.creator" content="Computer Security Division, Information Technology Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce" /> <meta name="dcterms.date.created" scheme="ISO8601" content="2019-06-03" /> <meta name="dcterms.date.reviewed" scheme="ISO8601" content="2024-06-18" /> <meta name="dcterms.language" scheme="DCTERMS.RFC1766" content="EN-US" />  <meta name="og:site_name" content="CSRC | NIST" /> <meta name="og:type" content="article" /> <meta name="og:url" content="https://csrc.nist.gov/projects/interoperable-randomness-beacons" /> <meta name="og:title" content="Interoperable Randomness Beacons | CSRC | CSRC" /> <meta name="og:description" content="The Interoperable Randomness Beacons project at NIST intends to promote the availability of trusted public randomness as a public utility. This can be used for example for auditability and transparency of services that depend on randomized processes. The project is spearheaded by the Cryptographic Technology Group in the Computer Security Division of the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL), and has counted with the participation of many collaborators over the years. WARNING: Do NOT use Beacon generated values as cryptographic secret keys! Randomness pulses from the NIST Randomness Beacon can be found in the NIST Beacon webpage NIST recommendations on (pseudo)random-bit generation can be found in the NIST RBG project webpage Historical notes Collaborators: Ron Rivest played an important early role in motivating the creation of the project, by pointing out to NIST that a public source of randomness could be valuable for auditing voting machines. Michael Fischer was a valuable early..." /> <meta name="article:tag" content="cryptography" /> <meta name="article:published_time" content="2019-06-03" /> <meta name="article:modified_time" content="2024-06-18" /> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="180x180" href="/images/icons/apple-touch-icon.png" /> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="/images/icons/favicon-32x32.png" sizes="32x32" /> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="/images/icons/favicon-16x16.png" sizes="16x16" /> <link rel="manifest" href="/images/icons/manifest.json" /> <link rel="mask-icon" href="/images/icons/safari-pinned-tab.svg" color="#000000" /> <link href="/CSRC/Media/images/favicons/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" rel="shortcut icon" /> <link href="/CSRC/Media/images/favicons/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon" rel="icon" /> <link href="/dist/app.css" rel="stylesheet" />  <link href="/dist/highlight-js/github.css" rel="stylesheet" />  <link href="/dist/uswds/css/uswds.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /> <script type="text/javascript" src="/dist/uswds/js/uswds-init.min.js"></script>  <style> .grecaptcha-badge { visibility: hidden; } </style> <script async type="text/javascript" id="_fed_an_ua_tag" src="https://dap.digitalgov.gov/Universal-Federated-Analytics-Min.js?agency=nist&subagency=csrc&pua=UA-66610693-15&yt=true&exts=xsd,xml,wav,mpg,mpeg,avi,rtf,webm,ogg,ogv,oga,map,otf,eot,svg,ttf,woff"></script> <style id="antiClickjackCss"> body > * { display: none !important; } #antiClickjack { display: block !important; } </style> <noscript> <style id="antiClickjackNoScript"> body > * { display: block !important; } #antiClickjack { display: none !important; } </style> </noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="antiClickjackScript"> if (self === top) { // no clickjacking var antiClickjack = document.getElementById("antiClickjackCss"); antiClickjack.parentNode.removeChild(antiClickjack); } else { setTimeout(tryForward(), 5000); } function tryForward() { top.location = self.location; } </script>  <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-TSQ0PLGJZP"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-TSQ0PLGJZP'); </script>  <script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-MZQC4NCJ');</script>  </head> <body>  <noscript><iframe src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-MZQC4NCJ" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>  <div id="antiClickjack" style="display: none;"> <strong style="font-size: 1.6rem;">You are viewing this page in an unauthorized frame window.</strong> <p>This is a potential security issue, you are being redirected to <a href="https://csrc.nist.gov">https://csrc.nist.gov</a>.</p> </div> <section class="usa-banner" aria-label="Official website of the United States government"> <div class="usa-accordion"> <header class="usa-banner__header"> <noscript> <p style="font-size: 0.85rem; font-weight: bold;">You have JavaScript disabled. This site requires JavaScript to be enabled for complete site functionality.</p> </noscript> <div class="usa-banner__inner"> <div class="grid-col-auto"> <img aria-hidden="true" class="usa-banner__header-flag" src="/dist/uswds/img/us_flag_small.png" alt=""/> </div> <div class="grid-col-fill tablet:grid-col-auto" aria-hidden="true"> <p class="usa-banner__header-text"> An official website of the United States government </p> <p class="usa-banner__header-action">Here’s how you know</p> </div> <button type="button" class="usa-accordion__button usa-banner__button" aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="gov-banner-default"> <span class="usa-banner__button-text">Here’s how you know</span> </button> </div> </header> <div class="usa-banner__content usa-accordion__content" id="gov-banner-default"> <div class="grid-row grid-gap-lg"> <div class="usa-banner__guidance tablet:grid-col-6"> <img class="usa-banner__icon usa-media-block__img" src="/dist/uswds/img/icon-dot-gov.svg" role="img" alt="" aria-hidden="true"/> <div class="usa-media-block__body"> <p> <strong>Official websites use .gov</strong><br/>A <strong>.gov</strong> website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. </p> </div> </div> <div class="usa-banner__guidance tablet:grid-col-6"> <img class="usa-banner__icon usa-media-block__img" src="/dist/uswds/img/icon-https.svg" role="img" alt="" aria-hidden="true"/> <div class="usa-media-block__body"> <p> <strong>Secure .gov websites use HTTPS</strong><br/>A <strong>lock</strong> ( <span class="icon-lock"> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="52" height="64" viewBox="0 0 52 64" class="usa-banner__lock-image" role="img" aria-labelledby="banner-lock-description-default" focusable="false"> <title id="banner-lock-title-default">Lock</title> <desc id="banner-lock-description-default">Locked padlock icon</desc> <path fill="#000000" fill-rule="evenodd" d="M26 0c10.493 0 19 8.507 19 19v9h3a4 4 0 0 1 4 4v28a4 4 0 0 1-4 4H4a4 4 0 0 1-4-4V32a4 4 0 0 1 4-4h3v-9C7 8.507 15.507 0 26 0zm0 8c-5.979 0-10.843 4.77-10.996 10.712L15 19v9h22v-9c0-6.075-4.925-11-11-11z"/> </svg> </span >) or <strong>https://</strong> means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> <nav id="navbar" class="navbar"> <div id="nist-menu-container" class="container"> <div class="row">  <div class="col-xs-6 col-md-4 navbar-header"> <a class="navbar-brand" href="https://www.nist.gov" target="_blank" id="navbar-brand-image"> <img src="/CSRC/media/images/svg/nist-logo.svg" alt="National Institute of Standards and Technology" width="110" height="30"> </a> </div> <div class="col-xs-6 col-md-8 navbar-nist-logo"> <div class="form-inline hidden-sm hidden-xs"> <form name="site-search" id="site-search-form" action="/search" method="GET"> <label for="search-csrc-query" class="element-invisible">Search</label> <input autocomplete="off" class="form-control" id="search-csrc-query" name="keywords" type="text" size="15" maxlength="128" placeholder="Search CSRC" /> <input type="hidden" name="ipp" value="25" /> <input type="hidden" name="sortBy" value="relevance" /> <input type="hidden" name="showOnly" value="publications,projects,news,events,presentations,glossary,topics" /> <input type="hidden" name="topicsMatch" value="ANY" /> <input type="hidden" name="status" value="Final,Draft" /> <button type="submit" id="search-csrc-submit-btn" class="form-submit"> <span class="element-invisible">Search</span> <i class="fa fa-search"></i> </button> </form> </div> <span id="nvd-menu-button" class="pull-right"> <a href="#" id="nvd-menu-button-link"> <span class="fa fa-bars"></span> <span id="nvd-menu-full-text">CSRC MENU</span> </a> </span> </div> </div> </div> <div class="form-inline hidden-md hidden-lg"> <form name="site-search-mobile" id="site-search-form-mobile" action="/search" method="GET"> <label for="search-csrc-query-mobile" class="element-invisible">Search</label> <input autocomplete="off" class="form-control" id="search-csrc-query-mobile" name="keywords" type="text" size="15" maxlength="128" placeholder="Search CSRC" /> <button type="submit" id="search-csrc-submit-btn-mobile" class="form-submit"> <span class="element-invisible">Search</span> <i class="fa fa-search"></i> </button> </form> </div> <div class="main-menu-row container">  <div id="main-menu-drop" class="col-lg-12" style="display: none;"> <ul> <li><a href="/projects">Projects</a></li> <li> <a href="/publications"> Publications <span class="expander fa fa-plus" id="main-menu-pubs-expander" data-expander-name="publications" data-expanded="false"> <span class="element-invisible">Expand or Collapse</span> </span> </a> <div style="display: none;" class="sub-menu" data-expander-trigger="publications" id="main-menu-pubs-expanded"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-lg-4"> <p><a href="/publications/drafts-open-for-comment">Drafts for Public Comment</a></p> <p><a href="/publications/draft-pubs">All Public Drafts</a></p> <p><a href="/publications/final-pubs">Final Pubs</a></p> <p><a href="/publications/fips">FIPS <small>(standards)</small></a></p> </div> <div class="col-lg-4"> <p><a href="/publications/sp">Special Publications (SP<small>s</small>)</a></p> <p><a href="/publications/ir">IR <small>(interagency/internal reports)</small></a></p> <p><a href="/publications/cswp">CSWP <small>(cybersecurity white papers)</small></a></p> <p><a href="/publications/itl-bulletin">ITL Bulletins</a></p> </div> <div class="col-lg-4"> <p><a href="/publications/project-description">Project Descriptions</a></p> <p><a href="/publications/journal-article">Journal Articles</a></p> <p><a href="/publications/conference-paper">Conference Papers</a></p> <p><a href="/publications/book">Books</a></p> </div> </div> </div> </li> <li> <a href="/topics"> Topics <span class="expander fa fa-plus" id="main-menu-topics-expander" data-expander-name="topics" data-expanded="false"> <span class="element-invisible">Expand or Collapse</span> </span> </a> <div style="display: none;" class="sub-menu" data-expander-trigger="topics" id="main-menu-topics-expanded"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-lg-4"> <p><a href="/Topics/Security-and-Privacy">Security & Privacy</a></p> <p><a href="/Topics/Applications">Applications</a></p> </div> <div class="col-lg-4"> <p><a href="/Topics/Technologies">Technologies</a></p> <p><a href="/Topics/Sectors">Sectors</a></p> </div> <div class="col-lg-4"> <p><a href="/Topics/Laws-and-Regulations">Laws & Regulations</a></p> <p><a href="/Topics/Activities-and-Products">Activities & Products</a></p> </div> </div> </div> </li> <li><a href="/news">News & Updates</a></li> <li><a href="/events">Events</a></li> <li><a href="/glossary">Glossary</a></li> <li> <a href="/about"> About CSRC <span class="expander fa fa-plus" id="main-menu-about-expander" data-expander-name="about" data-expanded="false"> <span class="element-invisible">Expand or Collapse</span> </span> </a> <div style="display: none;" class="sub-menu" data-expander-trigger="about" id="main-menu-about-expanded"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-lg-6"> <p> <strong><a href="/Groups/Computer-Security-Division">Computer Security Division</a></strong><br /> <ul> <li><a href="/Groups/Computer-Security-Division/Cryptographic-Technology">Cryptographic Technology</a></li> <li><a href="/Groups/Computer-Security-Division/Secure-Systems-and-Applications">Secure Systems and Applications</a></li> <li><a href="/Groups/Computer-Security-Division/Security-Components-and-Mechanisms">Security Components and Mechanisms</a></li> <li><a href="/Groups/Computer-Security-Division/Security-Engineering-and-Risk-Management">Security Engineering and Risk Management</a></li> <li><a href="/Groups/Computer-Security-Division/Security-Testing-Validation-and-Measurement">Security Testing, Validation, and Measurement</a></li> </ul> </p> </div> <div class="col-lg-6"> <p> <strong><a href="/Groups/Applied-Cybersecurity-Division">Applied Cybersecurity Division</a></strong><br /> <ul> <li><a href="/Groups/Applied-Cybersecurity-Division/Cybersecurity-and-Privacy-Applications">Cybersecurity and Privacy Applications</a></li> <li><a href="/Groups/Applied-Cybersecurity-Division/National-Cybersecurity-Center-of-Excellence">National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.nist.gov/nice/">National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE)</a></li> </ul> </p> <p> <a href="/contact"> Contact Us </a> </p> </div> </div> </div> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> <section id="itl-header" class="has-menu"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-sm-12 col-md-8"> <div class="hidden-xs hidden-sm" id="itl-header-lg"> <a href="https://www.nist.gov/itl" target="_blank" id="itl-header-link">Information Technology Laboratory</a> </div> <div class="hidden-xs hidden-sm" id="csrc-header-lg"> <a href="/" id="csrc-header-link-lg">Computer Security Resource Center</a> </div> </div> <div class="col-sm-12 col-md-4"> <div class="hidden-xs hidden-sm hidden-md"> <a id="logo-csrc-lg" href="/"><img id="img-logo-csrc-lg" src="/CSRC/Media/images/nist-logo-csrc-white.svg" alt="CSRC Logo" class="csrc-header-logo"></a> </div> <div class="hidden-lg"> <a id="logo-csrc-sm" href="/"><img id="img-logo-csrc-sm" src="/CSRC/Media/images/nist-logo-csrc-white.svg" alt="CSRC Logo" class="csrc-header-logo"></a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> <div id="body-section" class="container"> <div class="breadcrumb"> <a href="/projects" class="breadcrumb-link">Projects</a> </div> <h1 id="projectName">Interoperable Randomness Beacons</h1> <div class="page-social-buttons" id="news-social-buttons"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcsrc.nist.gov%2Fprojects%2Finteroperable-randomness-beacons" class="social-facebook"><i class="fa fa-facebook fa-fw" aria-hidden="true"></i><span class="sr-only">Share to Facebook</span></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcsrc.nist.gov%2Fprojects%2Finteroperable-randomness-beacons" class="social-twitter"><i class="fa fa-twitter fa-fw" aria-hidden="true"></i><span class="sr-only">Share to Twitter</span></a> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcsrc.nist.gov%2Fprojects%2Finteroperable-randomness-beacons&source=csrc.nist.gov" class="social-linked-in"><i class="fa fa-linkedin fa-fw" aria-hidden="true"></i><span class="sr-only">Share to LinkedIn</span></a> <a href="mailto:?subject=csrc.nist.gov&body=Check out this site https://csrc.nist.gov/projects/interoperable-randomness-beacons" class="social-email"><i class="fa fa-envelope fa-fw" aria-hidden="true"></i><span class="sr-only">Share ia Email</span></a> </div> <div class="row visible-sm visible-xs visible-md"> <div class="col-sm-12"> <div class="bs-callout bs-callout-subnav" id="projectLinksContainer-sm"> <h4><i class="fa fa-link"></i> Project Links</h4> <div class="project-icons-container"> <span> <a href="/projects/interoperable-randomness-beacons" id="NavOverviewLink-sm"> <i class="fa fa-info-circle"></i> Overview </a> </span> <span> <a href="/Projects/interoperable-randomness-beacons/publications" id="NavPubsLink-sm" data-count="7"> <i class="fa fa-file-text"></i> Publications </a> </span> <span> <a href="/Projects/interoperable-randomness-beacons/presentations" id="NavPresLink-sm" data-count="14"> <i class="fa fa-desktop"></i> Presentations </a> </span> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="row"> <div class="col-lg-8 col-sm-12"> <h3>Overview</h3> <div id="overview"> <p style="text-align:left">The Interoperable Randomness Beacons project at NIST intends to promote the availability of trusted public randomness as a public utility. This can be used for example for auditability and transparency of services that depend on randomized processes.</p> <p style="text-align:left">The project is spearheaded by the Cryptographic Technology Group in the Computer Security Division of the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL), and has counted with the participation of many collaborators over the years.</p> <div class="alert alert-danger" role="alert">WARNING: Do <strong>NOT</strong> use Beacon generated values as cryptographic secret keys!</div> <div class="alert alert-success" role="alert">Randomness pulses from the <strong>NIST Randomness Beacon</strong> can be found in the <a href="https://beacon.nist.gov/home">NIST Beacon webpage</a></div> <div class="alert alert-warning" role="alert"><strong>NIST recommendations on (pseudo)random-bit generation</strong> can be found in the <a href="https://csrc.nist.gov/projects/random-bit-generation">NIST RBG project webpage</a></div> <hr> <div aria-multiselectable="true" class="panel-group" id="collapse1706796977076" role="tablist"> <div class="panel panel-default"> <div class="panel-heading" id="heading1706796977076_1" role="tab"> <div class="panel-title"><a aria-controls="collapse1706796977076_1" aria-expanded="false" class="collapsed" data-parent="#collapse1706796977076" data-target="#collapse1706796977076_1" data-toggle="collapse" href="javascript:void(0)">Historical notes </a></div> </div> <div aria-labelledby="heading1706796977076_1" class="collapse panel-collapse" id="collapse1706796977076_1" role="tabpanel"> <div class="panel-body"> <p><strong>Collaborators:</strong> Ron Rivest played an important early role in motivating the creation of the project, by pointing out to NIST that a public source of randomness could be valuable for auditing voting machines. Michael Fischer was a valuable early collaborator in thinking about a theoretical framework for public randomness. Andrew Regenscheid provided valuable administrative and technical support to the project. Overall, the NIST Beacon project has motivated several outputs, by the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) and the Physics Measurement Laboratory (PML), involving collaboration from various NIST members/associates, including Michael Bartock, Lawrence Bassham, Joshua Bienfang, Peter Bierhorst, Harold Booth, Luís Brandão, Tyler Diamond, Thomas Gerrits, Scott Glancy, Michaela Iorga, John Kelsey, Emanuel Knill, Paulina Kuo, Alan Migdall, Carl Miller, Sae Woo Nam, René Peralta, Andrew Rukhin, Krister Shalm, Michael Wayne.</p> <ul> <li> <p>2011: Start of the Beacon project at NIST, to promote the development of randomness Beacons.</p> </li> <li> <p>2012: Awarding of a <a href="https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2012/10/truly-random-numbers-not-chance">multi-year grant</a> from the Innovations in Measurement Science Program at NIST, for the Physics Measurement Laboratory (PML) to perform research on quantum random-number generation, and for the ITL to develop an implementation of the NIST Randomness Beacon.</p> </li> <li> <p>2013: Deployment of the first public prototype of the NIST Beacon (<a href="/projects/interoperable-randomness-beacons/beacon-10">version 1.0</a>).</p> </li> <li> <p>2015: Experimental validation of <a href="https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2015/11/nist-team-proves-spooky-action-distance-really-real">Bell loophole-free inequalities</a>.</p> </li> <li> <p>2018: Development (by PML) of a <a href="https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2018/04/nists-new-quantum-method-generates-really-random-numbers">quantum random-number generator based on photon detection</a>.</p> </li> <li> <p>2018: Upgrade of the NIST Randomness Beacon to <a href="/projects/interoperable-randomness-beacons/beacon-20">version 2.0</a>.</p> </li> <li> <p>2019: Publication of the "<a href="https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/nistir/8213/draft">Reference for Randomness Beacons</a>".</p> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> <hr> <h4><strong>Various tracks:</strong></h4> <ul> <li style="text-align:left"><strong>A. </strong>promote a <a href="https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/nistir/8213/draft">reference for randomness beacons</a>;</li> <li style="text-align:left"><strong>B. </strong>maintain a <a href="/projects/interoperable-randomness-beacons/beacon-20">NIST Beacon implementation</a>;</li> <li style="text-align:left"><strong>C. </strong>promote the deployment of Beacons by multiple independent organizations;</li> <li style="text-align:left"><strong>D. </strong>promote <a href="https://csrc.nist.gov/Presentations/2019/usages-of-public-randomness">applications of beacon-issued randomness</a>;</li> <li style="text-align:left"><strong>E.</strong> complementary initiatives about trusted randomness (e.g., <a href="https://www.nist.gov/publications/notes-interrogating-random-quantum-circuits">certifiable randomness</a>).</li> </ul> <div aria-multiselectable="true" class="panel-group" id="collapse1706797107371" role="tablist"> <div class="panel panel-default"> <div class="panel-heading" id="heading1706797107371_0" role="tab"> <div class="panel-title"><a aria-controls="collapse1706797107371_0" aria-expanded="false" class="collapsed" data-parent="#collapse1706797107371" data-target="#collapse1706797107371_0" data-toggle="collapse" href="javascript:void(0)">Track A: promote a reference for randomness beacons </a></div> </div> <div aria-labelledby="heading1706797107371_0" class="collapse panel-collapse" id="collapse1706797107371_0" role="tabpanel"> <div class="panel-body"> <p>The current reference (2.0) for randomness beacons is the NIST Internal Report (<a href="https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/nistir/8213/draft">NIST</a><a href="https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/nistir/8213/draft">IR</a><a href="https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/nistir/8213/draft"> 8213</a>) “A Reference for Randomness Beacons: Format and Protocol Version 2” (draft). We expect this reference document to promote the development of technology related to uses of public randomness for privacy-preserving auditability applications of societal benefit.</p> <p>The publication is available free of charge from <a href="https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.IR.8213-draft">https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.IR.8213-draft</a>. There was a period of public comments open in 2019. You may still send comments about the publication to <a href="mailto:beacon-nistir@nist.gov">beacon-nistir@nist.gov</a>. We plan to have the final version published in 2022.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Some features of a beacon, as defined by the new reference:</strong></p> <table> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width:625px"> <ul> <li>Periodically pulsates randomness (e.g., once a minute).</li> <li>Each pulse has a fresh 512-bit random string, cryptographically combining entropy from at least two separate random number generators (RNGs).</li> <li>Each pulse is indexed, time-stamped and signed.</li> <li>Any past pulse is publicly accessible.</li> <li>The sequence of pulses forms a hash chain.</li> <li>Far-apart pulses can be efficiently verified via a short chain (skiplist).</li> <li>A pre-commitment of local randomness enables securely combining randomness from multiple beacons.</li> </ul> </td> <td><a href="https://csrc.nist.gov/CSRC/media/Projects/Interoperable-Randomness-Beacons/documents/2019-beacon-icmc-slides-v20190517-h.pdf"><img alt="Lighthouse clipart" src="https://csrc.nist.gov/CSRC/media/Projects/Interoperable-Randomness-Beacons/images-media/lighthouse.svg" style="height:260px; width:207px"></a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> </div> </div> <div class="panel panel-default"> <div class="panel-heading" id="heading1706797107371_1" role="tab"> <div class="panel-title"><a aria-controls="collapse1706797107371_1" aria-expanded="false" class="collapsed" data-parent="#collapse1706797107371" data-target="#collapse1706797107371_1" data-toggle="collapse" href="javascript:void(0)">Track B: maintain a NIST Beacon implementation </a></div> </div> <div aria-labelledby="heading1706797107371_1" class="collapse panel-collapse" id="collapse1706797107371_1" role="tabpanel"> <div class="panel-body"> <p>It is challenging to implement a secure and reliable randomness beacon matching the devised reference. Ensuring a reliable production of timely randomness requires understanding the functioning of the Beacon engine and its interface with associated machinery. Enabling the retrieval of any past pulse and associated information requires implementing and maintaining a high-availability public online interface.</p> <p>The NIST Randomness Beacon is available online at <a href="/projects/interoperable-randomness-beacons/beacon-20">NIST Randomness Beacon</a></p> <p>The following image is a high-level depiction of some components of the Beacon service. The NIST Beacon integrates a <a href="https://www.nist.gov/publications/post-processing-free-single-photon-random-number-generator-ultra-low-latency">PML-developed quantum-RNG</a> (identified in the figure as #3) based on photon detection.</p> <p><img alt="Beacon diagram" src="/CSRC/media/Projects/interoperable-randomness-beacons/images-media/beacon-diagram-.svg"></p> <p>A Beacon implementation does not require knowing who are the actual users of the published randomness. The Beacon service only interacts with users via the public query-reply web-interface.</p> <p>The Beacon engine has limited interactions accepting input from the outside:</p> <ul> <li>it interacts with a time server for the purpose of clock synchronization;</li> <li>it may use publicly verifiable "<strong>external values</strong>" for proving that some pulses could have not been pre-computed before certain time-marks.</li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div class="panel panel-default"> <div class="panel-heading" id="heading1706797107371_2" role="tab"> <div class="panel-title"><a aria-controls="collapse1706797107371_2" aria-expanded="false" class="collapsed" data-parent="#collapse1706797107371" data-target="#collapse1706797107371_2" data-toggle="collapse" href="javascript:void(0)">Track C: promote the deployment of Beacons by multiple independent organizations </a></div> </div> <div aria-labelledby="heading1706797107371_2" class="collapse panel-collapse" id="collapse1706797107371_2" role="tabpanel"> <div class="panel-body"> <p>List of Beacons in the process of implementing the new reference for randomness Beacons.</p> <ul> <li> <p>United States: <a href="/projects/interoperable-randomness-beacons/beacon-20">NIST Randomness Beacon</a></p> </li> <li> <p>Chile: <a href="https://beacon.clcert.cl/">CLCERT Randomness Beacon</a></p> </li> <li> <p>Brazil: <a href="https://beacon.inmetro.gov.br/">Brazilian Randomness Beacon</a></p> </li> </ul> <p>We would like others to join … and we expect this list to continue growing.</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="panel panel-default"> <div class="panel-heading" id="heading1706797107371_3" role="tab"> <div class="panel-title"><a aria-controls="collapse1706797107371_3" aria-expanded="false" class="collapsed" data-parent="#collapse1706797107371" data-target="#collapse1706797107371_3" data-toggle="collapse" href="javascript:void(0)">Track D: promote applications of beacon-issued randomness </a></div> </div> <div aria-labelledby="heading1706797107371_3" class="collapse panel-collapse" id="collapse1706797107371_3" role="tabpanel"> <div class="panel-body"> <p>We plan to develop guidance about the usage of Beacon-issued randomness. A few examples are given in the reference for randomness beacons.</p> <p><strong>Example applications of Beacon randomness:</strong></p> <ul> <li> <p>Select test and control groups for clinical trials.</p> </li> <li> <p>Select random government officials for financial audits.</p> </li> <li> <p>Assign court cases to random judges.</p> </li> <li> <p>Sample random lots for quality-measuring procedures.</p> </li> <li> <p>Provide entropy to digital lotteries.</p> </li> </ul> <p><strong>Some generic goals:</strong></p> <ul> <li> <p>Enable public verifiability of random sampling.</p> </li> <li> <p>Prevent auditors from biasing selections (or being accused of it) and auditees from knowing the selections in advance.</p> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div class="panel panel-default"> <div class="panel-heading" id="heading1706797107371_4" role="tab"> <div class="panel-title"><a aria-controls="collapse1706797107371_4" aria-expanded="false" class="collapsed" data-parent="#collapse1706797107371" data-target="#collapse1706797107371_4" data-toggle="collapse" href="javascript:void(0)">Track E: complementary initiatives about trusted randomness </a></div> </div> <div aria-labelledby="heading1706797107371_4" class="collapse panel-collapse" id="collapse1706797107371_4" role="tabpanel"> <div class="panel-body"> <p>The project is also interested in assisting complementary initiatives of research and development about trusted randomness, e.g., about quantum random-number generators (QRNG) and certifiable randomness. For example:</p> <ul> <li>Bell-test experiments (such as those carried out by NIST-PML) allow for internal assurance (i.e., by the operators of the experimental setting) that random numbers were free from manipulation. See: <a href="https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2015/11/nist-team-proves-spooky-action-distance-really-real">Bell-test experiments</a> (2015), and <a href="https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2018/04/nists-new-quantum-method-generates-really-random-numbers">Bell-test based quantum-RNG</a> (2018).</li> <li>In principle, it is possible to use a quantum computer to produce externally-certifiable randomness (i.e., verifiable by observers that do not control the experimental setting). We have looked at how to estimate entropy in one such experiment, based on sampling random quantum circuits in an adversarial setting [<a href="https://www.nist.gov/publications/notes-interrogating-random-quantum-circuits">BP20</a>, <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.11119">arxiv:2304.11119</a>]</li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> <hr> <h4>External links of interest</h4> <ul> <li> <p style="text-align:left">The NIST project on <a href="https://csrc.nist.gov/projects/random-bit-generation">Random Bit Generation</a> (RBG) has developed RBG guidance and recommendations, including via the Special Publications (SP) 800-90 parts <a href="https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/sp/800/90/a/r1/final">A</a>, <a href="https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/sp/800/90/b/final">B</a>, and <a href="https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/sp/800/90/c/3pd">C</a>.</p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align:left">The NIST <a href="https://csrc.nist.gov/projects/crypto-reading-club">Crypto Reading Club</a> series has hosted some randomness-related talks, including on <a href="https://csrc.nist.gov/presentations/2024/crclub-2024-02-21">2024-Feb-21</a>, <a href="https://csrc.nist.gov/Presentations/2023/crclub-2023-02-08">2023-Feb-08</a>, 2021-{Apr-07, Oct-24}, 2018-Apr-25, 2016-Sep-{28, 14}, 2015-{Dec-23, Mar-04, Jan-07}, and 2014-Mar-05.</p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align:left">The <a href="https://www.cloudflare.com/leagueofentropy">League of entropy</a> has developed the <a href="https://drand.love">Distributed Randomness Beacon</a> (2019)</p> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="col-lg-4 hidden-xs hidden-sm hidden-md"> <div class="project-nav-container"> <div class="bs-callout bs-callout-subnav" id="projectLinksContainer-lg"> <h4><i class="fa fa-link"></i> Project Links</h4> <div class="project-icons-container"> <span> <a href="/projects/interoperable-randomness-beacons" id="SideNavOverviewLink"> <i class="fa fa-info-circle"></i> Overview </a> </span> <span> <a href="/Projects/interoperable-randomness-beacons/publications" id="SideNavPubsLink" data-count="7"> <i class="fa fa-file-text"></i> Publications </a> </span> <span> <a href="/Projects/interoperable-randomness-beacons/presentations" id="SideNavPresLink" data-count="14"> <i class="fa fa-desktop"></i> Presentations </a> </span> </div> <h4>Additional Pages</h4> <div id="projectPagesCallout-lg"> <a class="csrc-add-page" data-node-level="0" data-node-order="1" href="/Projects/interoperable-randomness-beacons/apps" id="projPage0" style="border-left: solid 0rem transparent;">Apps</a> <a class="csrc-add-page" data-node-level="0" data-node-order="2" href="/Projects/interoperable-randomness-beacons/beacon-20" id="projPage1" style="border-left: solid 0rem transparent;">NIST Randomness Beacon (Version 2.0 Beta)</a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="bs-callout bs-callout-success" id="contactsCallout-lg"> <h4><i class="fa fa-user"></i> Contacts</h4> <p id="projContact0"><span class='contact-display'><strong data-field='full-name'> <span data-field='firstname'>Reach us at:</span> </strong><br/><a href='mailto:beacon@nist.gov' data-field='email'>beacon@nist.gov</a><br/></span></p> <p id="projContact1"><span class='contact-display'><strong data-field='full-name'> <span data-field='firstname'>René</span> <span data-field='lastname'>Peralta</span> </strong><br/><a href='mailto:rene.peralta@nist.gov' data-field='email'>rene.peralta@nist.gov</a><br/></span></p> <p id="projContact2"><span class='contact-display'><strong data-field='full-name'> <span data-field='firstname'>Harold</span> <span data-field='lastname'>Booth</span> </strong><br/></span></p> <p id="projContact3"><span class='contact-display'><strong data-field='full-name'> <span data-field='firstname'>Luís</span> <span data-field='lastname'>T. A. N. Brandão</span> </strong><br/></span></p> <p id="projContact4"><span class='contact-display'><strong data-field='full-name'> <span data-field='firstname'>John</span> <span data-field='lastname'>Kelsey</span> </strong><br/></span></p> <p id="projContact5"><span class='contact-display'><strong data-field='full-name'> <span data-field='firstname'>Carl</span> <span data-field='lastname'>Miller</span> </strong><br/></span></p> </div> <div class="bs-callout bs-callout-danger" id="owningGroupCallout-lg"> <h4><i class="fa fa-sitemap"></i> Group</h4> <a href="/Groups/Computer-Security-Division/Cryptographic-Technology">Cryptographic Technology</a> </div> <div class="bs-callout bs-callout-danger" id="topicsCallout-lg"> <h4><i class="fa fa-tag"></i> Topics</h4> <p> <strong id="catName0-lg">Security and Privacy:</strong> <a id="catTopLink0-0-lg" href="/Topics/Security-and-Privacy/cryptography">cryptography</a> </p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="row visible-sm visible-xs visible-md"> <div class="col-sm-12"> <div class="bs-callout bs-callout-subnav" id="projectPagesCallout-sm"> <h4>Additional Pages</h4> <p> <a class="csrc-add-page" data-node-level="0" data-node-order="1" href="/Projects/interoperable-randomness-beacons/apps" id="projPage0-sm" style="border-left: solid 0rem transparent;">Apps</a> <a class="csrc-add-page" data-node-level="0" data-node-order="2" href="/Projects/interoperable-randomness-beacons/beacon-20" id="projPage1-sm" style="border-left: solid 0rem transparent;">NIST Randomness Beacon (Version 2.0 Beta)</a> </p> </div> <div class="bs-callout bs-callout-subnav" id="contactsCallout-sm"> <h4><i class="fa fa-user"></i> Contacts</h4> <p style="padding-left: 15px;"> <span id="projContact0-sm"><span class='contact-display'><strong data-field='full-name'> <span data-field='firstname'>Reach us at:</span> </strong><br/><a href='mailto:beacon@nist.gov' data-field='email'>beacon@nist.gov</a><br/></span></span><br/> <span id="projContact1-sm"><span class='contact-display'><strong data-field='full-name'> <span data-field='firstname'>René</span> <span data-field='lastname'>Peralta</span> </strong><br/><a href='mailto:rene.peralta@nist.gov' data-field='email'>rene.peralta@nist.gov</a><br/></span></span><br/> <span id="projContact2-sm"><span class='contact-display'><strong data-field='full-name'> <span data-field='firstname'>Harold</span> <span data-field='lastname'>Booth</span> </strong><br/></span></span><br/> <span id="projContact3-sm"><span class='contact-display'><strong data-field='full-name'> <span data-field='firstname'>Luís</span> <span data-field='lastname'>T. A. N. Brandão</span> </strong><br/></span></span><br/> <span id="projContact4-sm"><span class='contact-display'><strong data-field='full-name'> <span data-field='firstname'>John</span> <span data-field='lastname'>Kelsey</span> </strong><br/></span></span><br/> <span id="projContact5-sm"><span class='contact-display'><strong data-field='full-name'> <span data-field='firstname'>Carl</span> <span data-field='lastname'>Miller</span> </strong><br/></span></span><br/> </p> </div> <div class="bs-callout bs-callout-danger" id="owningGroupCallout-sm"> <h4><i class="fa fa-sitemap"></i> Group</h4> <a href="/Groups/Computer-Security-Division/Cryptographic-Technology">Cryptographic Technology</a> </div> <div class="bs-callout bs-callout-danger" id="topicsCallout-sm"> <h4><i class="fa fa-tag"></i> Topics</h4> <p> <strong id="catName0-sm">Security and Privacy:</strong> <a id="catTopLink0-0-sm" href="/Topics/Security-and-Privacy/cryptography">cryptography</a> </p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-12 historical-data-area" id="historical-data-area"> <span>Created <span id="page-created-date">June 03, 2019</span>, Updated <span id="page-updated-date">June 18, 2024</span></span> </div> </div> <div id="footer-pusher"></div> </div> <footer id="footer"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-sm-6"> <span class="hidden-xs"> <a href="https://www.nist.gov" title="National Institute of Standards and Technology" rel="home" target="_blank" class="footer-nist-logo" id="footer-nist-logo-link"> <img src="/CSRC/Media/images/nist-logo-brand-white.svg" alt="National Institute of Standards and Technology logo" id="footer-nist-logo" /> </a> </span> <div class="row footer-contact-container"> <div class="col-sm-12" id="footer-address"> <strong>HEADQUARTERS</strong><br> 100 Bureau Drive<br> Gaithersburg, MD 20899 </div> </div> </div> <div class="col-sm-6"> <ul class="social-list text-right" style="display: block;"> <li class="field-item service-twitter list-horiz"> <a href="https://twitter.com/NISTCyber" class="social-btn social-btn--large extlink ext" id="footer-social-twitter-link"> <i class="fa fa-twitter fa-fw"><span class="element-invisible">twitter</span></i><span class="ext"><span class="element-invisible"> (link is external)</span></span> </a> </li> <li class="field-item service-facebook list-horiz"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/NIST" class="social-btn social-btn--large extlink ext" id="footer-social-facebook-link"> <i class="fa fa-facebook fa-fw"><span class="element-invisible">facebook</span></i><span class="ext"><span class="element-invisible"> (link is external)</span></span> </a> </li> <li class="field-item service-linkedin list-horiz"> <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/nist" class="social-btn social-btn--large extlink ext" id="footer-social-linkedin-link"> <i class="fa fa-linkedin fa-fw"><span class="element-invisible">linkedin</span></i><span class="ext"><span class="element-invisible"> (link is external)</span></span> </a> </li> <li class="field-item service-instagram list-horiz"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/usnistgov/" class="social-btn social-btn--large extlink ext" id="footer-social-instagram-link"> <i class="fa fa-instagram fa-fw"><span class="element-invisible">instagram</span></i> <span class="ext"><span class="element-invisible"> (link is external)</span></span> </a> </li> <li class="field-item service-youtube list-horiz"> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/USNISTGOV" class="social-btn social-btn--large extlink ext" id="footer-social-youtube-link"> <i class="fa fa-youtube fa-fw"><span class="element-invisible">youtube</span></i><span class="ext"><span class="element-invisible"> (link is external)</span></span> </a> </li> <li class="field-item service-rss list-horiz"> <a href="https://www.nist.gov/news-events/nist-rss-feeds" class="social-btn social-btn--large extlink" id="footer-social-rss-link"> <i class="fa fa-rss fa-fw"><span class="element-invisible">rss</span></i> </a> </li> <li class="field-item service-govdelivery list-horiz last"> <a href="https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USNIST/subscriber/new?qsp=USNIST_3" class="social-btn social-btn--large extlink ext" title="Subscribe to CSRC and publication updates, and other NIST cybersecurity news" id="footer-social-govdelivery-link"> <i class="fa fa-envelope fa-fw"><span class="element-invisible">govdelivery</span></i><span class="ext"><span class="element-invisible"> (link is external)</span></span> </a> </li> </ul> <p class="text-right"> Want updates about CSRC and our publications? <a href="https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USNIST/subscriber/new?qsp=USNIST_3" class="btn btn-lg btn-primary" style="background-color: #12659c!important; border-color: #12659c!important;" id="footer-subscribe-link">Subscribe</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="row hidden-sm hidden-md hidden-lg"> <div class="col-sm-12"> <a href="https://www.nist.gov" title="National Institute of Standards and Technology" rel="home" target="_blank" class="footer-nist-logo" id="footer-bottom-nist-logo-link"> <img src="/CSRC/Media/images/logo_rev.png" alt="National Institute of Standards and Technology logo" id="footer-bottom-nist-logo" /> </a> </div> </div> <div class="row"> <div class="col-sm-6"> <p> <a href="/about/contact" id="footer-contact-us-link">Contact Us</a> | <a href="https://www.nist.gov/about-nist/visit" style="display: inline-block;" id="footer-org-link">Our Other Offices</a> </p> </div> <div class="col-sm-6"> <span class="pull-right text-right"> Send inquiries to <a href="mailto:csrc-inquiry@nist.gov?subject=CSRC Inquiry" style="display: inline-block;" id="footer-inquiries-link">csrc-inquiry@nist.gov</a> </span> </div> </div> <div class="row"> <div class="footer-bottom-links-container" id="footer-bottom-links-container"> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.nist.gov/privacy-policy">Site Privacy</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.nist.gov/oism/accessibility">Accessibility</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.nist.gov/privacy">Privacy Program</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.nist.gov/oism/copyrights">Copyrights</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.commerce.gov/vulnerability-disclosure-policy">Vulnerability Disclosure</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.nist.gov/no-fear-act-policy">No Fear Act Policy</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.nist.gov/foia">FOIA</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.nist.gov/environmental-policy-statement">Environmental Policy</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.nist.gov/summary-report-scientific-integrity">Scientific Integrity</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.nist.gov/nist-information-quality-standards">Information Quality Standards</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.commerce.gov/">Commerce.gov</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.science.gov/">Science.gov</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.usa.gov/">USA.gov</a></li> <li><a href="https://vote.gov/">Vote.gov</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </footer> <script type="text/javascript" src="/dist/js/quick-collapse.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/dist/app.bundle.js"></script>  <script type="text/javascript" src="/dist/uswds/js/uswds.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/dist/projects.bundle.js"></script> </body> </html>

CINXE.COM

Interoperable Randomness Beacons | CSRC