Security · Updated 17 Oct, 12:25 am IST
Claude explains origins of ECDSA curve seeds
Why it matters for readers: If you were following the mystery, this gives a clear explanation and ends years of speculation.
- Claude revealed that the seed values used to define some NIST elliptic curves can be traced to timestamps, resolving long‑standing mystery about their origin.1
- The NIST P‑256 seed (example given as C49D3608 86E70493 6A6678E1 139D26B7 819F7E90) was among those whose provenance was questioned.1
- Authors Neal Koblitz and Alfred Menezes previously summarized concerns in a paper titled “A Riddle Wrapped in an Enigma,” which framed the controversy.1
- The Hacker News post frames this as a closing chapter and says most researchers already trusted the curves, so no action is required.1
- An amateur investigation and a bounty had previously attempted to uncover the seeds’ origins before this explanation emerged.1
Get a brief like this every morning
Uzha reads hundreds of sources and gives you the stories that matter for your work, with every source linked. Free.
Get started