Encrypting data
Symmetric encryption and asymmetric encryption are performed using different processes. Symmetric encryption is performed on streams and is therefore useful to encrypt large amounts of data. Asymmetric encryption is performed on a small number of bytes and is therefore useful only for small amounts of data.
Symmetric encryption
The managed symmetric cryptography classes are used with a special stream class called a CryptoStream that encrypts data read into the stream. The CryptoStream class is initialized with a managed stream class, a class that implements the ICryptoTransform interface (created from a class that implements a cryptographic algorithm), and a CryptoStreamMode enumeration that describes the type of access permitted to the CryptoStream. The CryptoStream class can be initialized using any class that derives from the Stream class, including FileStream, MemoryStream, and NetworkStream. Using these classes, you can perform symmetric encryption on a variety of stream objects.
The following example illustrates how to create a new instance of the default implementation class for the Aes algorithm. The instance is used to perform encryption on a CryptoStream class. In this example, the CryptoStream is initialized with a stream object called fileStream that can be any type of managed stream. The CreateEncryptor method from the Aes class is passed the key and IV that are used for encryption. In this case, the default key and IV generated from aes are used.
Dim aes As Aes = Aes.Create()
Dim cryptStream As New CryptoStream(
fileStream, aes.CreateEncryptor(key, iv), CryptoStreamMode.Write)
Aes aes = Aes.Create();
CryptoStream cryptStream = new CryptoStream(
fileStream, aes.CreateEncryptor(key, iv), CryptoStreamMode.Write);
After this code is executed, any data written to the CryptoStream object is encrypted using the AES algorithm.
The following example shows the entire process of creating a stream, encrypting the stream, writing to the stream, and closing the stream. This example creates a file stream that is encrypted using the CryptoStream class and the Aes class. Generated IV is written to the beginning of FileStream, so it can be read and used for decryption. Then a message is written to the encrypted stream with the StreamWriter class. While the same key can be used multiple times to encrypt and decrypt data, it is recommended to generate a new random IV each time. This way the encrypted data is always different, even when plain text is the same.
using System.Security.Cryptography;
try
{
using (FileStream fileStream = new("TestData.txt", FileMode.OpenOrCreate))
{
using (Aes aes = Aes.Create())
{
byte[] key =
{
0x01, 0x02, 0x03, 0x04, 0x05, 0x06, 0x07, 0x08,
0x09, 0x10, 0x11, 0x12, 0x13, 0x14, 0x15, 0x16
};
aes.Key = key;
byte[] iv = aes.IV;
fileStream.Write(iv, 0, iv.Length);
using (CryptoStream cryptoStream = new(
fileStream,
aes.CreateEncryptor(),
CryptoStreamMode.Write))
{
// By default, the StreamWriter uses UTF-8 encoding.
// To change the text encoding, pass the desired encoding as the second parameter.
// For example, new StreamWriter(cryptoStream, Encoding.Unicode).
using (StreamWriter encryptWriter = new(cryptoStream))
{
encryptWriter.WriteLine("Hello World!");
}
}
}
}
Console.WriteLine("The file was encrypted.");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine($"The encryption failed. {ex}");
}
Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Security.Cryptography
Module Module1
Sub Main()
Try
' Create a file stream
Using fileStream As New FileStream("TestData.txt", FileMode.OpenOrCreate)
' Create a new instance of the default Aes implementation class
' and configure encryption key.
Using aes As Aes = Aes.Create()
'Encryption key used to encrypt the stream.
'The same value must be used to encrypt and decrypt the stream.
Dim key As Byte() = {
&H1, &H2, &H3, &H4, &H5, &H6, &H7, &H8,
&H9, &H10, &H11, &H12, &H13, &H14, &H15, &H16
}
aes.Key = key
' Stores IV at the beginning of the file.
' This information will be used for decryption.
Dim iv As Byte() = aes.IV
fileStream.Write(iv, 0, iv.Length)
' Create a CryptoStream, pass it the FileStream, and encrypt
' it with the Aes class.
Using cryptoStream As New CryptoStream(fileStream, aes.CreateEncryptor(), CryptoStreamMode.Write)
' By default, the StreamWriter uses UTF-8 encoding.
' To change the text encoding, pass the desired encoding as the second parameter.
' For example, New StreamWriter(cryptoStream, Encoding.Unicode).
Using sWriter As New StreamWriter(cryptoStream)
'Write to the stream.
sWriter.WriteLine("Hello World!")
End Using
End Using
End Using
End Using
'Inform the user that the message was written
'to the stream.
Console.WriteLine("The text was encrypted.")
Catch
'Inform the user that an exception was raised.
Console.WriteLine("The encryption failed.")
Throw
End Try
End Sub
End Module
The code encrypts the stream using the AES symmetric algorithm, and writes IV and then encrypted "Hello World!" to the stream. If the code is successful, it creates an encrypted file named TestData.txt and displays the following text to the console:
The file was encrypted.
You can decrypt the file by using the symmetric decryption example in Decrypting Data. That example and this example specify the same key.
However, if an exception is raised, the code displays the following text to the console:
The encryption failed.
Asymmetric encryption
Asymmetric algorithms are usually used to encrypt small amounts of data such as the encryption of a symmetric key and IV. Typically, an individual performing asymmetric encryption uses the public key generated by another party. The RSA class is provided by .NET for this purpose.
The following example uses public key information to encrypt a symmetric key and IV. Two byte arrays are initialized that represents the public key of a third party. An RSAParameters object is initialized to these values. Next, the RSAParameters object (along with the public key it represents) is imported into an RSA instance using the RSA.ImportParameters method. Finally, the private key and IV created by an Aes class are encrypted. This example requires systems to have 128-bit encryption installed.
Imports System
Imports System.Security.Cryptography
Module Module1
Sub Main()
'Initialize the byte arrays to the public key information.
Dim modulus As Byte() = {214, 46, 220, 83, 160, 73, 40, 39, 201, 155, 19, 202, 3, 11, 191, 178, 56, 74, 90, 36, 248, 103, 18, 144, 170, 163, 145, 87, 54, 61, 34, 220, 222, 207, 137, 149, 173, 14, 92, 120, 206, 222, 158, 28, 40, 24, 30, 16, 175, 108, 128, 35, 230, 118, 40, 121, 113, 125, 216, 130, 11, 24, 90, 48, 194, 240, 105, 44, 76, 34, 57, 249, 228, 125, 80, 38, 9, 136, 29, 117, 207, 139, 168, 181, 85, 137, 126, 10, 126, 242, 120, 247, 121, 8, 100, 12, 201, 171, 38, 226, 193, 180, 190, 117, 177, 87, 143, 242, 213, 11, 44, 180, 113, 93, 106, 99, 179, 68, 175, 211, 164, 116, 64, 148, 226, 254, 172, 147}
Dim exponent As Byte() = {1, 0, 1}
'Create values to store encrypted symmetric keys.
Dim encryptedSymmetricKey() As Byte
Dim encryptedSymmetricIV() As Byte
'Create a new instance of the default RSA implementation class.
Dim rsa As RSA = RSA.Create()
'Create a new instance of the RSAParameters structure.
Dim rsaKeyInfo As New RSAParameters()
'Set rsaKeyInfo to the public key values.
rsaKeyInfo.Modulus = modulus
rsaKeyInfo.Exponent = exponent
'Import key parameters into rsa
rsa.ImportParameters(rsaKeyInfo)
'Create a new instance of the default Aes implementation class.
Dim aes As Aes = Aes.Create()
'Encrypt the symmetric key and IV.
encryptedSymmetricKey = rsa.Encrypt(aes.Key, RSAEncryptionPadding.Pkcs1)
encryptedSymmetricIV = rsa.Encrypt(aes.IV, RSAEncryptionPadding.Pkcs1)
End Sub
End Module
using System;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
class Class1
{
static void Main()
{
//Initialize the byte arrays to the public key information.
byte[] modulus =
{
214,46,220,83,160,73,40,39,201,155,19,202,3,11,191,178,56,
74,90,36,248,103,18,144,170,163,145,87,54,61,34,220,222,
207,137,149,173,14,92,120,206,222,158,28,40,24,30,16,175,
108,128,35,230,118,40,121,113,125,216,130,11,24,90,48,194,
240,105,44,76,34,57,249,228,125,80,38,9,136,29,117,207,139,
168,181,85,137,126,10,126,242,120,247,121,8,100,12,201,171,
38,226,193,180,190,117,177,87,143,242,213,11,44,180,113,93,
106,99,179,68,175,211,164,116,64,148,226,254,172,147
};
byte[] exponent = { 1, 0, 1 };
//Create values to store encrypted symmetric keys.
byte[] encryptedSymmetricKey;
byte[] encryptedSymmetricIV;
//Create a new instance of the RSA class.
RSA rsa = RSA.Create();
//Create a new instance of the RSAParameters structure.
RSAParameters rsaKeyInfo = new RSAParameters();
//Set rsaKeyInfo to the public key values.
rsaKeyInfo.Modulus = modulus;
rsaKeyInfo.Exponent = exponent;
//Import key parameters into rsa.
rsa.ImportParameters(rsaKeyInfo);
//Create a new instance of the default Aes implementation class.
Aes aes = Aes.Create();
//Encrypt the symmetric key and IV.
encryptedSymmetricKey = rsa.Encrypt(aes.Key, RSAEncryptionPadding.Pkcs1);
encryptedSymmetricIV = rsa.Encrypt(aes.IV, RSAEncryptionPadding.Pkcs1);
}
}
