Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Security Handbook

Chapter 17. CryptoAPI

In this chapter

Secure Communication

Cryptography and CryptoAPI

CryptoAPI Administration

Enabling Cryptography in Your Applications

In the previous chapter, you learned about two pairs of functions provided by the SSPI API, which gives developers the ability to send and receive secure messages over a non-secure network and to ensure their integrity. These functions are useful for a variety of tasks, but sometimes the security requirements of the software are so high that developers turn to APIs, which expose more powerful functionality. One such API is CryptoAPI, the Cryptographic Application Program Interface.

The CryptoAPI is powerful technology that solves several problems, such as enabling secure communication over untrustworthy ...