winrandom

This module gives direct access to Windows Cryptographic API CryptGetRandom() function, which is cryptographically strong pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) on Windows:

• long() returns random unsigned long integer

    >>> import winrandom
    >>> winrandom.long()
    2141228967
  

• bytes(n) returns n random bytes

    >>> winrandom.bytes(10)
    "\x1e'^';]\xda\xf0\x91\xba"
  

• range(max) returns a random integer i from range 0 to max (0 <= i < max). Random data originates from the PRNG but to ensure that the integer is not biased an algorithm from NIST SP800-90 is used (B.5.1.1 Simple Discard Method). In addition, in the internal loop a continuous random number generator test is executed (FIPS 140-2 p. 44).

    >>> winrandom.range(1000)
    706
  

History

• 1.0 added winrandom.long(), first published at IPSec.pl
• 1.1 added winrandom.bytes(num)
• 1.2 added winrandom.range(max)

Note

This module is obsolete since Python 2.4 when os.urandom was added to provide operating system based randomness on all supported systems.