In cryptography, a pseudo-random generator (PRG) is a deterministic procedure that maps a random seed to a longer pseudo-random string such that no statistical test can distinguish between the output of the generator and the uniform distribution. Pseudo-random generators have numerous applications in cryptography. For instance, pseudo-random generators provide an efficient analog of one-time pads.
In cryptography, a pseudo-random generator (PRG) is a deterministic procedure that maps a random seed to a longer pseudo-random string such that no statistical test can distinguish between the output of the generator and the uniform distribution. Pseudo-random generators have numerous applications in cryptography. For instance, pseudo-random generators provide an efficient analog of one-time pads.
Perfectly secure encryption is very costly in terms of key length. Key length can be significantly reduced using a pseudorandom generator if perfect security is replaced by semantic security. Common constructions of stream ciphers are based on pseudo-random generators. Pseudo-random generators may also be used to construct symmetric key cryptosystems, where a large number of messages can be safely encrypted under the same key. Such a construction can be based on a pseudo-random function family, which generalizes the notion of a pseudo-random generator.
