Claude traces NIST P-256 seed to a 1997 random number generator run

Anthropic researchers say the mysterious seed behind one of the internet's most used elliptic curves came from a timestamped 1990s PRNG, not a hidden design choice For more than two decades, one of the most important strings of numbers in internet security came with no explanation. The seed behind the NIST P-256 elliptic curve, also known as prime256v1, simply showed up in the standards, and nobody could say where it came from. Researchers from Anthropic now say they know. Using the Claude AI model, they traced the seed to a garden-variety random number generator that was started on August 16, 1997, at 01:52:34 UTC. The origin story turned out to be mundane, which is roughly the best outcome a cryptographer could hope for.

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