Predefined Provider Types

A number of provider types have already been defined. The following table lists these provider types, along with the algorithms that each type must support. A CSP of a given type is free to support other algorithms in addition to the ones listed.

Provider Type
Key Exchange
Signature
Encryption
Hashing
PROV_RSA_FULL
RSA
RSA
RC2, RC4
MD5, SHA
PROV_RSA_SIG
n/a
RSA
n/a
MD5, SHA
PROV_DSS
n/a
DSS
n/a
SHA
PROV_FORTEZZA
KEA
DSS
Skipjack
SHA
PROV_MS_EXCHANGE
RSA
RSA
CAST
MD5
PROV_SSL
RSA
RSA
  • aries
  • aries

    • If two or more applications plan to exchange keys and encrypted messages, they should both use CSPs of the same type, however, some CSP types may be partially compatible with others.

    Anyone writing a custom CSP can define a new provider type. However, this person is then responsible for distributing the new provider type to the authors of any applications that are to use it.

    In the event that the previous table mentioned algorithms you are not familiar with, the following table provides a brief description of each.

    Algorithm
    		Description
    CAST
    		This is a 64-bit symmetric block cipher developed by C. M. Adams and S. E. Tavares. This algorithm is somewhat similar to DES (Data Encryption Standard).
    DES
    		National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Data Encryption Standard. This is a 64-bit symmetric block cipher that has a fixed key length of 56-bits.
    DH
    		Diffie-Hellman. This is a public-key algorithm used for secure key exchange. It cannot be used for data encryption.
    DSS
    		Digital Signature Standard. This standard uses the Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA), which is a public-key cipher used to generate digital signatures. It cannot be used for data encryption.
    KEA
    		Key Exchange Algorithm. This is an improved version of Diffie-Hellman.
    MD2
    		MD2. This is a hashing algorithm that produces a 128-bit hash value.
    MD4
    		MD4. This is a hashing algorithm that produces a 128-bit hash value.
    MD5
    		MD5. This is an improved version of MD4. It also produces a 128-bit hash value.
    RC2
    		RC2 Block Cipher. This is a 64-bit symmetric block cipher.
    RC4
    		RC4 Stream Cipher. This is a symmetric stream cipher.
    RSA
    		RSA Public-Key Cipher. This is a popular public-key cipher used for both encryption and signatures.
    SHA
    		Secure Hash Algorithm. This is a hashing algorithm that produces a 160-bit hash value.
    Skipjack
    		This is the algorithm used by the Clipper and Capstone chips. It is a symmetric block cipher with a fixed key length of 80 bits.

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