.NET Framework Security

The Cryptographic Object Model of the .NET Framework

One of the first things a developer will notice of any reasonable cryptographic library is an abundance of different algorithms that perform equivalent functions. Nothing is static in the field of cryptography. Over time, new algorithms are invented and old algorithms are broken, so any application using cryptography needs to be able to adopt these new algorithms and retire the old ones over time. Consequently, a good cryptographic library has to have easy extensibility by third parties (to accommodate new algorithms) as one of its fundamental design goals if it is to be useful over time. Users must be able to add new and improved algorithms to the system in a way that makes them available ...