In authenticating a first circuit by a second circuit, the second circuit selects one of a set of public values and sends to the first circuit a request for a secret value corresponding to the selected one of the set of public values. The first circuit derives the secret value from the selected one of the set of public values using a seed from set of seeds that is stored in a destructive fashion such that each use of a seed destroys that seed. The set of seeds is smaller in number than the set of public values. The second circuit determines whether the secret value matches the selected one of the set of public values using a one-way function. A positive authentication is generated based upon the determination of a match.