Overview

SecureRandom is a generic Java API to access random number generator functionality.

SecureRandom random = new SecureRandom();

By default SecureRandom will use NativePRNG implementation which uses /dev/urandom for nextBytes() and /dev/random to generateSeed().

The API can be used to access other random number generators using the following interface:

SecureRandom random = SecureRandom.getInstance(algorithm, provider);

SHA1PRNG is a pure Java random number generator. It is not as strong as the algorithms used by approved DRBG mechanisms in NIST SP800-90.

There is a new version of SecureRandom in Java 9, JEP-273, which adds SHA-512 and AES-256 based off NIST SP800-90.

PK11SecureRandom

JSS provides a FIPS 140-2 compliant random number generator called PK11SecureRandom which can be used as follows:

SecureRandom random = SecureRandom.getInstance("pkcs11prng", "Mozilla-JSS");