Cloudflare’s security strategy has always been interesting, but it appears that the company is now taking things to that next level. Lava lamps are now a genuine part of their infrastructure, as they recently used 100 photographs of shifting lava lamps to generate entropy.
As SSL Store explains in more detail, this is highly unpredictable data that helps cryptographic keys to secure online communication.
SSL Encryption is a Critical Part of Website Security
The tech behind Cloudflare’s lava lamps supports the cryptographic keys used by TLS, which is the successor to the SSL protocol. Whenever a user visits a HTTPS website, SSL/TLS establishes an encrypted connection between the server and the device.
This stops passwords, payment data, and even personal information from being stolen while it travels the internet. SSL encryption is now the baseline security standard across every sector, as brands including WordPress, Starbucks, Samsung, Shell, Ted Baker and Debenhams all rely on advanced SSL to handle online payments, while meeting PCI DSS compliance requirements.
In entertainment, SSL and TLS are used to encrypt traffic as well, particularly through sites like Netflix. HTTPS is used to secure viewing privacy, streaming, and search queries. Even high-bandwidth movie streams are encrypted so that nobody can see what someone else is watching.
Crypto casinos, including the Bombastic crypto casino , also rely on password protection to secure player accounts and SSL to protect customer data and funds. As blockchain technology is resilient and highly secure, adopting methods like this helps to offer an extra layer of protection.
As SSL or TLS requires randomness so the master key cannot be predicted, it’s important to find new ways to generate it. Cloudflare’s adoption of lava lamps might seem unusual, but it is somewhat of a genius approach, especially when you consider the role they play in the company’s infrastructure.
Cloudflare Collects Randomness from Other Sources
Cloudflare uses hardware timing, electrical noise, and user interactions to collect randomness. When combined with the lava lamp wall, millions of unique pixel values can be generated, which generates fresh entropy.
This helps to seed cryptographically secure numbers. Even if someone walks up to the camera that’s recording the lava lamps, the movement adds more unpredictability to the system, which supports the servers even more efficiently.
The company also has different random “walls” throughout its offices across the world. The lava lamps are in San Francisco, but Lisbon is home to Cloudflare wave machines.
Double pendulums operate in London, and all the data is digitised into completely random numbers. By ensuring that the walls are connected to a video feed, it’s possible to create physical entropy that’s unpredictable.
The raw data is captured and then run through a hashing function, which initialises the CSPRNG. From there, an unlimited amount of random bytes can be generated. Even if a server were to be hacked or compromised, the randomness produced in each office would protect it, showing how important physical random sources of data are and how the humble lava lamp is an essential part of Cloudflare’s security strategy.
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