NIST Standards on Random Numbers

NIST has published a number of guidelines and recommendations to provide guidelines and recommendations for generating random numbers for cryptographic applications. Namely, the NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-90 series has three parts: Part A specifies mechanisms for the generation of random bits using deterministic methods; Part B outlines the design principles and requirements for the entropy sources used by random bit generators; and Part C  specifies constructions for the implementation of random bit generators integrating deterministic mechanisms from Part A and utilizing entropy sources as specified in Part B. Additionally, NIST SP 800-22 offers a suite of statistical tests to assess the randomness properties of binary sequences. This presentation offers an overview of these standards, highlighting their strengths, limitations, and NIST’s strategies for their future revision.