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Pseudorandom function (PRF)

Abbreviations / Acronyms / Synonyms:

Definitions:

  A function that can be used to generate output from a random seed and a data variable, such that the output is computationally indistinguishable from truly random output.
Sources:
NIST SP 800-135 Rev. 1

  A function that can be used to generate output from a random seed such that the output is computationally indistinguishable from truly random output.
Sources:
NIST SP 800-185 under Pseudorandom Function (PRF)

  An indexed family of (efficiently computable) functions, each defined for the same input and output spaces. (For the purposes of this Recommendation, one may assume that both the index set and the output space are finite.) If a function from the family is selected by choosing an index value uniformly at random, and one’s knowledge of the selected function is limited to the output values corresponding to a feasible number of (adaptively) chosen input values, then the selected function is computationally indistinguishable from a function whose outputs were fixed uniformly at random.
Sources:
NIST SP 800-108r1 [August 2022 (Includes updates as of 02-02-2024)] under pseudorandom function