How Lava Lamps Create Random Numbers

I watched a NCIS episode the other day where one of the people had to destroy a bunch of lava lamps used for computing to save the day.  I honestly thought that was a plot device but I checked it out and indeed there is at least one company who uses lava lamps for this purpose.

This company acts as a gate keeper for data on the internet.  In order to maintain security of the data, they have to produce a bunch of random numbers, completely random and totally unpredictable.  To do this, they use the "lava" in lava lamps to help randomly generate numbers.

They do this by recording the bubbling of over 100 lava lamps in the lobby of their main office in San Francisco.  This video is then fed into an advanced algorithmic program which takes the bubbling and changes it into random numbers that are more random than can be produced by humans.

Most random numbers are created by programs written by humans so they are really not that random.  The numbers produced can often be guessed or figured out by hackers but the numbers based on lava lamps is much more random and secure.  There is less chance for these numbers to be cracked.

This lava lamp randomness is actually quite secure.  As stated, the lava lamps are in the lobby of the company's San Francisco office for everyone to see.  By having the lamps out in the lobby for everyone to see, it adds another layer of security to the production of random numbers.  When people walk around, the vibrations change the rate of bubbles or if they block the light it changes the temperature inside the liquid, changing the bubble rate.  Every little change, makes the randomness even more random.

You may wonder where random numbers come into play for computers and the internet.  Well, it's like this.  The minute you log into a website, the computers assign you a random number for identification.  This is to prevent hackers from impersonating people and getting their money, etc. Unfortunately, most random numbers are not random because they are produced by algorithms but the strings can be figured out if the first number is known.  

This is where lava lamps come in.  Their blurps, and bubbles are much more random because the mixture of oil, wax, and water is effected by changes in temperature, vibrations, and other things.  This means the rate that bubbles are produced is never constant.  

Thus the arrangement of bubbles and blurps rising through the liquid is constantly changing making the production of random numbers much more random.  These rates are changed into random numbers which are used in cryptographic keys for extra security.  This unpredictability is the key to randomness in this whole scheme.

I don't think the inventor of the lava lamp ever envisioned his creation being used for computer security.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.