Elliptic Curve Cryptography Public Key Generation

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Provides a Cryptography Next Generation (CNG) implementation of the Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) algorithm. This class is used to perform cryptographic operations. The following example shows how to use the ECDiffieHellmanCng class to establish a key exchange and how to use that key to encrypt a message that can. Alice and Bob. Jun 04, 2015  ECC (Elliptic Curve Cryptography) is a relatively new algorithm that creates encryption keys based on using points on a curve to define the public and private keys. Key Benefits of ECC ECC key is very helpful for the current generation as more people are moving to the Smartphone. This might seem like we're cheating a bit, however this meets the criteria for public key encryption (anyone with the public key can encrypt, only the holder of the private key can decrypt), and it also sidesteps the issue of translating the message into an elliptic curve point reversibly (which can be done, but it can be kludgy). Oct 04, 2018 Elliptic Curve Cryptography, or ECC, is a powerful approach to cryptography and an alternative method from the well known RSA. It is an approach used for public key encryption by utilizing the mathematics behind elliptic curves in order to generate security between key pairs.

Science & TechnologySoftware & CodingEducationGeneral Topics

Elliptic curve cryptography is used to implement public key cryptography. It was discovered by Victor Miller of IBM and Neil Koblitz of the University of Washington in the year 1985. ECC popularly used an acronym for Elliptic Curve Cryptography. It is based on the latest mathematics and delivers a relatively more secure foundation than the first generation public key cryptography systems for example RSA.

Elliptic Curves

In 1985, cryptographic algorithms were proposed based on elliptic curves. An elliptic curve is the set of points that satisfy a specific mathematical equation. They are symmetrical.

Uses

  • Websites make extensive use of ECC to secure customers’ hypertext transfer protocol connections.

  • It is used for encryption by combining the key agreement with a symmetric encryption scheme.

  • It is also used in several integer factorization algorithms like Lenstra elliptic-curve factorization.

  • Time stamping uses an encryption model called a blind signature scheme. It is possible using Elliptic Curve Cryptography.

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Definition

Elliptic Curve Cryptography Public Key Generation Download

Provides a Cryptography Next Generation (CNG) implementation of the Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) algorithm. This class is used to perform cryptographic operations.

Inheritance
ECDiffieHellmanCng

Examples

The following example shows how to use the ECDiffieHellmanCng class to establish a key exchange and how to use that key to encrypt a message that can be sent over a public channel and decrypted by the receiver.

Remarks

The ECDiffieHellmanCng class enables two parties to exchange private key material even if they are communicating through a public channel. Both parties can calculate the same secret value, which is referred to as the secret agreement in the managed Diffie-Hellman classes. The secret agreement can then be used for a variety of purposes, including as a symmetric key. However, instead of exposing the secret agreement directly, the ECDiffieHellmanCng class does some post-processing on the agreement before providing the value. This post processing is referred to as the key derivation function (KDF); you can select which KDF you want to use and set its parameters through a set of properties on the instance of the Diffie-Hellman object.

Key derivation functionProperties
HashHashAlgorithm - The hash algorithm that is used to process the secret agreement.
SecretPrepend - An optional byte array to prepend to the secret agreement before hashing it.
SecretAppend - An optional byte array to append to the secret agreement before hashing it.
HmacHashAlgorithm - The hash algorithm that is used to process the secret agreement.
SecretPrepend- An optional byte array to prepend to the secret agreement before hashing it.
SecretAppend - An optional byte array to append to the secret agreement before hashing it.
TlsLabel - The label for key derivation.
Seed - The seed for key derivation.

The result of passing the secret agreement through the key derivation function is a byte array that may be used as key material for your application. The number of bytes of key material generated is dependent on the key derivation function; for example, SHA-256 will generate 256 bits of key material, whereas SHA-512 will generate 512 bits of key material.The basic flow of an ECDH key exchange is as follows:

  1. Alice and Bob create a key pair to use for the Diffie-Hellman key exchange operation

  2. Alice and Bob configure the KDF using parameters the agree on.

  3. Alice sends Bob her public key.

  4. Bob sends Alice his public key.

  5. Alice and Bob use each other's public keys to generate the secret agreement, and apply the KDF to the secret agreement to generate key material.

Constructors

ECDiffieHellmanCng()

Initializes a new instance of the ECDiffieHellmanCng class with a random key pair.

ECDiffieHellmanCng(CngKey)

Initializes a new instance of the ECDiffieHellmanCng class by using the specified CngKey object.

ECDiffieHellmanCng(ECCurve)

Creates a new instance of the ECDiffieHellmanCng class whose public/private key pair is generated over the specified curve.

ECDiffieHellmanCng(Int32)

Initializes a new instance of the ECDiffieHellmanCng class with a random key pair, using the specified key size.

Fields

KeySizeValue

Represents the size, in bits, of the key modulus used by the asymmetric algorithm.

(Inherited from AsymmetricAlgorithm)
LegalKeySizesValue

Specifies the key sizes that are supported by the asymmetric algorithm.

(Inherited from AsymmetricAlgorithm)

Elliptic Curve Cryptography Problems

Properties

HashAlgorithm

Gets or sets the hash algorithm to use when generating key material.

HmacKey

Gets or sets the Hash-based Message Authentication Code (HMAC) key to use when deriving key material.

Key

Specifies the CngKey that is used by the current object for cryptographic operations.

KeyDerivationFunction

Gets or sets the key derivation function for the ECDiffieHellmanCng class.

KeyExchangeAlgorithm

Gets the name of the key exchange algorithm. Generate private key ppk digital ocean.

(Inherited from ECDiffieHellman)
KeySize

Gets or sets the size, in bits, of the key modulus used by the asymmetric algorithm.

Label

Gets or sets the label value that is used for key derivation.

LegalKeySizes

Gets the key sizes that are supported by the asymmetric algorithm.

(Inherited from AsymmetricAlgorithm)
PublicKey

Gets the public key that can be used by another ECDiffieHellmanCng object to generate a shared secret agreement.

SecretAppend

Gets or sets a value that will be appended to the secret agreement when generating key material.

SecretPrepend

Gets or sets a value that will be added to the beginning of the secret agreement when deriving key material.

Seed

Gets or sets the seed value that will be used when deriving key material.

SignatureAlgorithm

Gets the name of the signature algorithm.

(Inherited from ECDiffieHellman)
UseSecretAgreementAsHmacKey

Gets a value that indicates whether the secret agreement is used as a Hash-based Message Authentication Code (HMAC) key to derive key material.

Methods

Clear()

Releases all resources used by the AsymmetricAlgorithm class.

(Inherited from AsymmetricAlgorithm)
DeriveKeyFromHash(ECDiffieHellmanPublicKey, HashAlgorithmName)

Performs key derivation using a specified hash algorithm.

(Inherited from ECDiffieHellman)
DeriveKeyFromHash(ECDiffieHellmanPublicKey, HashAlgorithmName, Byte[], Byte[])

Performs key derivation using a specified hash algorithm with optional prepended or appended data.

DeriveKeyFromHmac(ECDiffieHellmanPublicKey, HashAlgorithmName, Byte[])

Performs key derivation using a specified HMAC (Hash-based Message Authentication Code) algorithm.

(Inherited from ECDiffieHellman)
DeriveKeyFromHmac(ECDiffieHellmanPublicKey, HashAlgorithmName, Byte[], Byte[], Byte[])

Performs key derivation using a specified HMAC (Hash-based Message Authentication Code) algorithm with optional prepended or appended data.

DeriveKeyMaterial(CngKey)

Derives the key material that is generated from the secret agreement between two parties, given a CngKey object that contains the second party's public key.

DeriveKeyMaterial(ECDiffieHellmanPublicKey)

Derives the key material that is generated from the secret agreement between two parties, given an ECDiffieHellmanPublicKey object that contains the second party's public key.

DeriveKeyTls(ECDiffieHellmanPublicKey, Byte[], Byte[])

Performs key derivation using the TLS (Transport Layer Security) 1.1 PRF (Pseudo-Random Function).

DeriveSecretAgreementHandle(CngKey)

Gets a handle to the secret agreement generated between two parties, given a CngKey object that contains the second party's public key.

DeriveSecretAgreementHandle(ECDiffieHellmanPublicKey)

Gets a handle to the secret agreement generated between two parties, given an ECDiffieHellmanPublicKey object that contains the second party's public key.

Dispose()

Releases all resources used by the current instance of the AsymmetricAlgorithm class.

(Inherited from AsymmetricAlgorithm)
Dispose(Boolean)

Releases the unmanaged resources used by the AsymmetricAlgorithm class and optionally releases the managed resources.

(Inherited from AsymmetricAlgorithm)
Equals(Object)

Determines whether the specified object is equal to the current object.

(Inherited from Object)
ExportECPrivateKey()

Exports the current key in the ECPrivateKey format.

(Inherited from ECDiffieHellman)
ExportEncryptedPkcs8PrivateKey(ReadOnlySpan<Byte>, PbeParameters)

Exports the current key in the PKCS#8 EncryptedPrivateKeyInfo format with a byte-based password.

(Inherited from AsymmetricAlgorithm)
ExportEncryptedPkcs8PrivateKey(ReadOnlySpan<Char>, PbeParameters)

Exports the current key in the PKCS#8 EncryptedPrivateKeyInfo format with a char-based password.

(Inherited from AsymmetricAlgorithm)
ExportExplicitParameters(Boolean)

Exports the key and explicit curve parameters used by the ECCurve object into an ECParameters object.

ExportParameters(Boolean)

Exports the key used by the ECCurve object into an ECParameters object.

ExportPkcs8PrivateKey()

Exports the current key in the PKCS#8 PrivateKeyInfo format.

(Inherited from AsymmetricAlgorithm)
ExportSubjectPublicKeyInfo()

Exports the public-key portion of the current key in the X.509 SubjectPublicKeyInfo format.

(Inherited from AsymmetricAlgorithm)
FromXmlString(String)

This method is not implemented.

FromXmlString(String, ECKeyXmlFormat)

Deserializes the key information from an XML string by using the specified format.

GenerateKey(ECCurve)

Generates a new ephemeral public/private key pair for the specified curve.

GetHashCode()

Serves as the default hash function.

(Inherited from Object)
GetType()

Gets the Type of the current instance.

(Inherited from Object)
ImportECPrivateKey(ReadOnlySpan<Byte>, Int32)

Imports the public/private keypair from an ECPrivateKey structure, replacing the keys for this object.

(Inherited from ECDiffieHellman)
ImportEncryptedPkcs8PrivateKey(ReadOnlySpan<Byte>, ReadOnlySpan<Byte>, Int32)

Imports the public/private keypair from a PKCS#8 EncryptedPrivateKeyInfo structure after decrypting with a byte-based password, replacing the keys for this object.

(Inherited from ECDiffieHellman)
ImportEncryptedPkcs8PrivateKey(ReadOnlySpan<Char>, ReadOnlySpan<Byte>, Int32)

Imports the public/private keypair from a PKCS#8 EncryptedPrivateKeyInfo structure after decrypting with a char-based password, replacing the keys for this object.

(Inherited from ECDiffieHellman)
ImportParameters(ECParameters)

Imports the specified parameters for an ECCurve object as a key into the current instance.

ImportPkcs8PrivateKey(ReadOnlySpan<Byte>, Int32)

Imports the public/private keypair from a PKCS#8 PrivateKeyInfo structure after decryption, replacing the keys for this object.

(Inherited from ECDiffieHellman)
ImportSubjectPublicKeyInfo(ReadOnlySpan<Byte>, Int32)

Imports the public key from an X.509 SubjectPublicKeyInfo structure after decryption, replacing the keys for this object.

(Inherited from ECDiffieHellman)
MemberwiseClone()

Creates a shallow copy of the current Object.

(Inherited from Object)
ToString()

Returns a string that represents the current object.

(Inherited from Object)
ToXmlString(Boolean)

This method is not implemented.

ToXmlString(ECKeyXmlFormat)

Serializes the key information to an XML string by using the specified format.

TryExportECPrivateKey(Span<Byte>, Int32)

Attempts to export the current key in the ECPrivateKey format into a provided buffer.

(Inherited from ECDiffieHellman)
TryExportEncryptedPkcs8PrivateKey(ReadOnlySpan<Byte>, PbeParameters, Span<Byte>, Int32)

Attempts to export the current key in the PKCS#8 EncryptedPrivateKeyInfo format into a provided buffer, using a byte-based password.

(Inherited from ECDiffieHellman)
TryExportEncryptedPkcs8PrivateKey(ReadOnlySpan<Char>, PbeParameters, Span<Byte>, Int32)

Attempts to export the current key in the PKCS#8 EncryptedPrivateKeyInfo format into a provided buffer, using a char-based password.

(Inherited from ECDiffieHellman)
TryExportPkcs8PrivateKey(Span<Byte>, Int32)

Attempts to export the current key in the PKCS#8 PrivateKeyInfo format into a provided buffer.

(Inherited from ECDiffieHellman)
TryExportSubjectPublicKeyInfo(Span<Byte>, Int32)

Attempts to export the current key in the X.509 SubjectPublicKeyInfo format into a provided buffer.

(Inherited from ECDiffieHellman)

Explicit Interface Implementations

IDisposable.Dispose()

For a description of this member, see Dispose().

(Inherited from AsymmetricAlgorithm)

Ecc Elliptic Curve Cryptography

Applies to