Talk:Probabilistic encryption

Would it not use a pseudo-random generator? -- KayEss 07:53, 9 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Not sure what the question is. If you mean "does a probabilistic encryption algorithm necessarily have to use a pseudorandom number generator", the answer is: most of the time, yes, unless you somehow get lots of random bits for free. Arvindn 08:09, 9 Oct 2004 (UTC)

It's probably me not understanding how the encryption works. If you randomly encode the message how can it ever be decrypted? KayEss 08:14, 9 Oct 2004 (UTC)

The decryption algorithm maps many different ciphertexts to the same plaintext. Think of probabilistic encryption as padding the plaintext with a random string and then deterministically encrypting it. On decryption you just ignore the junk at the end. That's not a provably secure system, but its easy to understand. Arvindn 08:28, 9 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I see now. Could you put an explanation along those lines into the article? --KayEss 11:51, 9 Oct 2004 (UTC)