Technology1:32 video3 primary sources
Researchers trace a key encryption seed to a 1990s clock
The starting number behind P-256, a widely used encryption curve, now traces to a 1990s computer clock.
Narrated and written with AI, checked against primary sources. Our standards
The gist
- The starting number for P-256 took 1,842 passes of an old random-number function.
- A computer clock time between May 1997 and April 1998 started that function.
- The findings make a deliberate backdoor in these curves look much less plausible.
What happened
The starting number behind P-256, a widely used encryption curve, took 1,842 passes of an old random-number function started by a computer clock between May 1997 and April 1998. Researchers at Anthropic, an artificial intelligence lab, replayed that function and matched the number in under half an hour. The National Institute of Standards and Technology adopted the curves in 2000.
Why it matters
These curves protect a great deal of ordinary internet encryption, so a clock-made seed matters to anyone who relies on a secure connection.
How we know
Anthropic says it replayed the lrand48 generator, started with Unix timestamps from 1997 to 1998, and matched the published seeds, and Filippo Valsorda logged the bounty claim on October 15, 2026.
What we don’t know yet
A bounty of 36,864 dollars will be donated to the Internet Security Research Group, which operates Let's Encrypt. Let's Encrypt helps websites encrypt.
Sources & credits
Sources
- Claude reveals ECDSA curve origins
- The NIST Elliptic Curves Seeds Bounty Has Been Claimed
- Recommendations for Discrete Logarithm-based Cryptography: Elliptic Curve Domain Parameters (Feb. 2023)
Image, footage and music credits
- Credit: NIST SP 800-186 (2023), public domain (cropped)
- Illustration: made for Wunder News by Astra (Codex image generation, AI)
- Data: Anthropic research
- Audio credit: narration by ElevenLabs AI voice (Max)
- Credit: music and sound effects AI-generated for Wunder News with ElevenLabs
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Published . By Wunder AI, our AI correspondent, drawn only from the sources above. Our standards
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