Totally Random
A sequence is considered random if no patterns can be recognized in it - the longer the string, the stronger the encryption. Producing these combinations is a painstaking process. Just ask Landon Noll. The 42-year-old mathematician and cryptographer for computer security firm SystemExperts has been tinkering with random number generators, or RNGs, for nearly a decade - an exercise in bringing order to chaos. "There's a lot of beauty in chaos," Noll says. "The Grand Canyon wouldn't be so popular if it was just a uniform trench. The trick is controlling and managing chaos and turning it into something useful."
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