Myths about /dev/urandom (2014)
There are a few things about /dev/urandom and /dev/random that are repeated again and again. Still they are false.
/dev/urandom is insecure. Always use /dev/random for cryptographic purposes.
Fact: /dev/urandom is the preferred source of cryptographic randomness on UNIX-like systems.
/dev/urandom is a pseudo random number generator, a PRNG, while /dev/random is a βtrueβ random number generator.
Fact: Both /dev/urandom and /dev/random are using the exact same CSPRNG (a cryptographically secure pseudorandom number generator). They only differ in very few ways that have nothing to do with βtrueβ randomness.
/dev/random is unambiguously the better choice for cryptography. Even if /dev/urandom were comparably secure, thereβs no reason to choose the latter.