Encrypting and decrypting data

There are multiple encryption algorithms you can choose from in .NET. Some algorithms are implemented by the operating system and their names are suffixed with the text CryptoServiceProvider, some are implemented in managed code and their names are suffixed with the text Managed, some use symmetric keys, and some use asymmetric keys. The following table summarizes some of the more common encryption algorithms:

Type	Description
RSACryptoServiceProvider	This performs asymmetric encryption and decryption using the implementation of the RSA algorithm. RSA stands for Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman, who described it in 1978.
AesManaged	This provides a managed implementation of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) symmetric algorithm that is based on Rijndael.
RijndaelManaged	This provides a managed implementation of the Rijndael symmetric algorithm.
RC2CryptoServiceProvider	This defines a wrapper to access the cryptographic service...