Re: Creating unique, non-reproducible serial ID

Lior Messinger wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
> I'm looking for an algorithm to create a serial ID that I can give to users,
> encrypted in a away that they will not be able to recreate other serial IDs.
>
> Any ideas? probably an old question but still... And how about the
> similarity of problem to Credit Card ID creation?
>
> Thanks,
> Lior Messinger, NOKs

There seems to be no relevance to the topic of this newsgroup - CD publishing (i.e., recording). The question is a variant of a standard one in cryptography, except that the search for such a "perfect" encryption is doomed to frustration. The one-time pad is perfectly secure, but by definition it has no mathematical algorithm.

One simple way to provide security of the sort you wish is with PGP - simply encrypt the serial number with your private key. Of course, they would be able to recreate other IDs, but the cost can be made prohibitive.

Mike

-- 
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