How A Geek Can Win in the Lottery

How A Geek Can Win in the Lottery

As a cryptography Professor, one thing I know about is random numbers, and that there can be no system to defeat the odds in a lottery, if the lottery is random. Within cryptography, random numbers are used to generate things like encryption keys. If the generation of these keys could be predicted in some way, it may be possible to guess them.

The two main types of random number generators are:

• Pseudo-Random Number Generators (PRNGs). This method repeats the random numbers after a given time (periodic). They are fast and are also deterministic, and are useful in producing a repeatable set of random numbers.
• True Random Number Generators (TRNGs). This method generates a truly random number, and uses some form of random process. One approach is to monitor the movements of a mouse pointer on a screen or from the pauses in keystrokes. Overall the method is generally slow, especially if it involves human interaction, but is non-deterministic and aperiodic.

So, I had to smile when I saw that Eddie Tipton, who was the computer information security director with the Multi-State Lottery Association from 2003 until 2015, “rigged” the winning numbers in several US states, and where he picked up millions in winnings. While in his post he wrote much of the software used in the lotteries and where he says he took advantage of a loophole in the random number generator.

His defence is that it was not his fault that there was a loophole, and he was just exploiting it. For this, he found that if the draw happened on Wednesdays or Saturdays after 8pm, the numbers could be predictable. He then won in Colorado in 2005, Wisconsin in December of 2007, Kansas in December of 2010 and Oklahoma in 2011.

He also attempted to collect a $16.5 million Hot Lotto ticket in December 2010 in Iowa, but is was rejected as the state would not pay an anonymous claimant. This then led to an investigation of Tipton and his connections. Eddie, himself, did not purchase the tickets, but passed on information to his brother (Tommy).

It is thought they received over $2.2 million with the scheme. It has also led to a lawsuit against Iowa-based Multi-State Lottery Association (and which serves 33 states). It is thus claimed that it did not serve random numbers, and which were used in many online lotteries.

A lottery should always be of the TRNG type. Normally simulation and modelling applications use PRNG, so that the values generated can be repeated for different runs, while cryptography, lotteries, gambling and games use TRNG, as each value should not repeat or be predictable. In the generation of key was determistic, Eve could possibly guess the key created. So, in the generation of encryption keys for public key encryption, users are often asked to generate some random activity, and where a random number is then generated based on this activity. This random number is then used to generate the encryption keys.

Computer programs, though, often struggle to generate truly random numbers, so hardware generators are often used within highly secure applications. One method is to generate a random number based on low-level, statistically random noise signals. This includes things like thermal noise and from the photoelectric effect.

If you are interested in random numbers, here is a way to determine if they are random … measure entropy [here].

Anyone for a bet on the lottery tonight? … I have a magic formula!