C# - Serializing/Deserializing a DES encrypted file from a stream

djdd87 picture djdd87 · Jun 8, 2009 · Viewed 13.1k times · Source

Does anyone have any examples of how to encrypt serialized data to a file and then read it back using DES?

I've written some code already that isn't working, but I'd rather see a fresh attempt instead of pursuing my code.

EDIT: Sorry, forgot to mention I need an example using XmlSerializer.Serialize/Deserialize.

Answer

Bryce Kahle picture Bryce Kahle · Jun 8, 2009

Encryption

public static void EncryptAndSerialize(string filename, MyObject obj, SymmetricAlgorithm key)
{
    using(FileStream fs = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Create))
    {
        using(CryptoStream cs = new CryptoStream(fs, key.CreateEncryptor(), CryptoStreamMode.Write))
        {
            XmlSerializer xmlser = new XmlSerializer(typeof(MyObject));
            xmlser.Serialize(cs, obj); 
        }
    }
}

Decryption:

public static MyObject DecryptAndDeserialize(string filename, SymmetricAlgorithm key)    
{
    using(FileStream fs = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Open))
    {
        using(CryptoStream cs = new CryptoStream(fs, key.CreateDecryptor(), CryptoStreamMode.Read))
        {
            XmlSerializer xmlser = new XmlSerializer(typeof(MyObject));
            return (MyObject) xmlser.Deserialize(cs);
        }
    }
}

Usage:

DESCryptoServiceProvider key = new DESCryptoServiceProvider();
MyObject obj = new MyObject();
EncryptAndSerialize("testfile.xml", obj, key);
MyObject deobj = DecryptAndDeserialize("testfile.xml", key);

You need to change MyObject to whatever the type of your object is that you are serializing, but this is the general idea. The trick is to use the same SymmetricAlgorithm instance to encrypt and decrypt.