ProtectedMemory Class

Definition

Namespace:

System.Security.Cryptography

Assembly:

System.Security.dll

Provides methods for protecting and unprotecting memory. This class cannot be inherited.

public ref class ProtectedMemory abstract sealed

public static class ProtectedMemory

type ProtectedMemory = class

Public Class ProtectedMemory

Inheritance

Object

ProtectedMemory

Examples

The following example shows how to use data protection.

#using <System.Security.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Security::Cryptography;

int main()
{
   
   // Create the original data to be encrypted (The data length should be a multiple of 16).
   array<Byte>^secret = {1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4};
   
   // Encrypt the data in memory. The result is stored in the same array as the original data.
   ProtectedMemory::Protect( secret, MemoryProtectionScope::SameLogon );
   
   // Decrypt the data in memory and store in the original array.
   ProtectedMemory::Unprotect( secret, MemoryProtectionScope::SameLogon );
}

using System;
using System.Security.Cryptography;

public class MemoryProtectionSample
{

    public static void Main()
    {
        // Create the original data to be encrypted (The data length should be a multiple of 16).
        byte [] secret = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4 };

        // Encrypt the data in memory. The result is stored in the same array as the original data.
        ProtectedMemory.Protect( secret, MemoryProtectionScope.SameLogon );

        // Decrypt the data in memory and store in the original array.
        ProtectedMemory.Unprotect( secret, MemoryProtectionScope.SameLogon );
    }
}

Imports System.Security.Cryptography

Public Class MemoryProtectionSample

    Public Shared Sub Main()
        ' Create the original data to be encrypted (The data length should be a multiple of 16).
        Dim secret As Byte() = {1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4}

        ' Encrypt the data in memory. The result is stored in the same array as the original data.
        ProtectedMemory.Protect(secret, MemoryProtectionScope.SameLogon)

        ' Decrypt the data in memory and store in the original array.
        ProtectedMemory.Unprotect(secret, MemoryProtectionScope.SameLogon)

    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

This class provides access to the Data Protection API (DPAPI) available in the Windows XP and later operating systems. This is a service that is provided by the operating system and does not require additional libraries. It provides encryption for sensitive data in memory.

The class consists of two wrappers for the unmanaged DPAPI, Protect and Unprotect. These two methods can be used to encrypt and decrypt data in memory.

Methods

Protect(Byte[], MemoryProtectionScope)	Protects the specified data.
Unprotect(Byte[], MemoryProtectionScope)	Unprotects data in memory that was protected using the Protect(Byte[], MemoryProtectionScope) method.