The Industrial Uses of Random Number Generation Technology
Throughout history, we have used random number generators (RNG) in some capacity. The oldest, simplest example is the dice, which pre-dates historical records. When a die is cast, the thrower doesn’t know how it’ll land.
Over time, RNG technology has become more sophisticated. Now most businesses have embraced the digital world and they use software as part of everyday operations. This led to RNG software that supports digital economies all over the world. Today, RNG is vital for computing and cybersecurity, while supporting entertainment industries too.
RNG Uses in Entertainment
Let’s start with the least complex, most relatable uses of RNG technology today – entertainment. Just like dice and other inventions like spinning wheels, RNGs are used to produce a random outcome. These are digital dice rolls that can determine how a game plays out.
As you’d expect, this is something that the whole iGaming industry is built on. Online casino websites offer hundreds of slots and digital table games. Since they’re hosted online, these games can’t use the same kind of randomness we experience in the real world. So, RNGs are used to mimic the action of a shuffled deck of cards or a spinning wheel. For example, a European roulette wheel uses an RNG that’s just like a dice, except it has 36 different sides that correspond to each spot on the wheel. The software used for RNG is completely unpredictable to those playing casino games online.
Besides iGaming, similar RNG software is used in other consumer-facing industries. When an e-commerce store hosts a giveaway, they might use a simple RNG programme to choose a winner from a list of eligible customers. There are a lot of simple RNG sites online where individuals can summon a random outcome. Meanwhile, industries like iGaming rely on more powerful, bespoke solutions that span hundreds of online casino games and get audited for randomness.
RNG Uses in Cybersecurity
As they exist today, RNGs are more than capable of fooling people. Absent any insider knowledge, modern RNG algorithms can produce an outcome that is completely unpredictable to human beings. That’s great for consumer-facing industries, but RNG is also very important for backend mechanics in computing.
Specifically, the cybersecurity field uses RNG technology when generating passwords and unique cryptographic keys. Password managers use them a lot, but any software that uses encryption will make use of an RNG program at some point in the process. In cybersecurity, cracking encryption often relies on figuring out how RNG algorithms work, and then predicting the codes they generate. Humans can’t do this, but bad actors train their own computers to try and crack encryption.
The result here is an arms race – RNG needs to get better and better to stay ahead of other computers. That’s why we continue to devise more sophisticated ways of achieving random outcomes, even when relatively simple RNGs trick humans. In the tech space, it’s a well-accepted fact that quantum computing can process data so fast that it’ll make traditional cybersecurity tech obsolete. Many researchers treat this like a deadline, where better RNG needs to get invented before quantum computers go mainstream.
The Future of RNG
The future of RNG technology is looking bright, as multiple successful developments have hit headlines over the past two years. Typically, when innovations occur, they get adopted by a lot of the industries that rely on RNG technology. Even in entertainment circles, it looks better when they have the latest, best randomness protocols over their competitors.
Both hardware and software solutions are being devised. In the hardware RNG space, researchers have used perovskite LEDs to create a working quantum random number generator. If possible, it could be the solution that RNG researchers have been waiting for and protect against quantum computing. Perovskite is also being investigated for solar panelling, as it can be twice as efficient as silicon cells if made economically viable.
Most online businesses run software RNGs instead. They’re much faster and easier to deploy and don’t rely on materials that can expire like perovskite. Fortunately, the blockchain could hold the future of random number generation. Blockchain tech is built on state-of-the-art cryptography that has already made digital currency possible and trustworthy. So, if blockchain gets adopted by other industries in the future, it can be used to provide even better random number generation and security protection to the software we use.
Ultimately, the future of RNG hinges on two technological breakthroughs that have yet to happen. Quantum computing could make or break the cybersecurity field, possibly both, while the blockchain can make RNG software more unpredictable than ever before. In the meantime, the field will continue to research new ways of achieving random outcomes.