Cryptographically securing entropy for later use

Abstract

Apparatus and method for managing entropy in a cryptographic processing system. In some embodiments, a first block of conditioned entropy is generated from at least one entropy source. The first block of conditioned entropy is subjected to a first cryptographic process to generate cryptographically secured entropy which is stored in a memory. The cryptographically secured entropy is subsequently retrieved from the memory and subjected to a second cryptographic process to generate a second block of conditioned entropy, which is thereafter used as an input in a third cryptographic process such as to encrypt or decrypt user data in a data storage device. The first cryptographic process may include an encryption algorithm to generate ciphertext and a hash function to generate a keyed digest value, such as an HMAC value, to detect tampering with the ciphertext by an attacker. The second cryptographic process may decrypt or further encrypt the ciphertext.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.