C# AES Encryption (How It Works For Developers)

Introduction of AES Encryption in C#

Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is a symmetric encryption algorithm standardized by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The algorithm can have key sizes of 128, 192, or 256 bits and is highly secure for encrypting confidential data. It uses the same encryption key to encrypt and decrypt data.

AES works by splitting the original data into blocks and applying transformations on those blocks. It operates in different cipher modes, such as CBC (Cipher Block Chaining) and Electronic CodeBook (ECB), each providing different security features.

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
using System.Text;

class Program
{
    // Declare a static byte array for encrypted data
    public static byte[] encryptedData;

    // Main method to demonstrate encryption and decryption
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        // String plaintext to be encrypted
        string plaintext = "This is some sensitive data!";
        string key = "abcdefghijklmnop"; // 128-bit key (16 characters)

        // Encrypt the plaintext
        string ciphertext = Encrypt(plaintext, key);
        Console.WriteLine("Encrypted Data: " + ciphertext);

        // Decrypt the ciphertext
        string decryptedData = Decrypt(ciphertext, key);
        Console.WriteLine("Decrypted Data: " + decryptedData);
    }

    // Method to encrypt data
    public static string Encrypt(string plaintext, string key)
    {
        // Create a new instance of the AES encryption algorithm
        using (Aes aes = Aes.Create())
        {
            aes.Key = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(key);
            aes.IV = new byte[16]; // Initialization vector (IV)

            // Create an encryptor to perform the stream transform
            ICryptoTransform encryptor = aes.CreateEncryptor(aes.Key, aes.IV);

            // Create the streams used for encryption
            using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream())
            {
                // Create a CryptoStream using the encryptor
                using (CryptoStream cs = new CryptoStream(ms, encryptor, CryptoStreamMode.Write))
                {
                    using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(cs))
                    {
                        sw.Write(plaintext);
                    }
                }
                // Store the encrypted data in the public static byte array
                encryptedData = ms.ToArray();
                return Convert.ToBase64String(encryptedData);
            }
        }
    }

    // Method to decrypt data
    public static string Decrypt(string ciphertext, string key)
    {
        using (Aes aes = Aes.Create())
        {
            aes.Key = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(key);
            aes.IV = new byte[16]; // Initialization vector (IV)

            // Create a decryptor to perform the stream transform
            ICryptoTransform decryptor = aes.CreateDecryptor(aes.Key, aes.IV);

            // Create the streams used for decryption
            using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(Convert.FromBase64String(ciphertext)))
            {
                using (CryptoStream cs = new CryptoStream(ms, decryptor, CryptoStreamMode.Read))
                {
                    using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(cs))
                    {
                        return sr.ReadToEnd();
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
using System.Text;

class Program
{
    // Declare a static byte array for encrypted data
    public static byte[] encryptedData;

    // Main method to demonstrate encryption and decryption
    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        // String plaintext to be encrypted
        string plaintext = "This is some sensitive data!";
        string key = "abcdefghijklmnop"; // 128-bit key (16 characters)

        // Encrypt the plaintext
        string ciphertext = Encrypt(plaintext, key);
        Console.WriteLine("Encrypted Data: " + ciphertext);

        // Decrypt the ciphertext
        string decryptedData = Decrypt(ciphertext, key);
        Console.WriteLine("Decrypted Data: " + decryptedData);
    }

    // Method to encrypt data
    public static string Encrypt(string plaintext, string key)
    {
        // Create a new instance of the AES encryption algorithm
        using (Aes aes = Aes.Create())
        {
            aes.Key = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(key);
            aes.IV = new byte[16]; // Initialization vector (IV)

            // Create an encryptor to perform the stream transform
            ICryptoTransform encryptor = aes.CreateEncryptor(aes.Key, aes.IV);

            // Create the streams used for encryption
            using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream())
            {
                // Create a CryptoStream using the encryptor
                using (CryptoStream cs = new CryptoStream(ms, encryptor, CryptoStreamMode.Write))
                {
                    using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(cs))
                    {
                        sw.Write(plaintext);
                    }
                }
                // Store the encrypted data in the public static byte array
                encryptedData = ms.ToArray();
                return Convert.ToBase64String(encryptedData);
            }
        }
    }

    // Method to decrypt data
    public static string Decrypt(string ciphertext, string key)
    {
        using (Aes aes = Aes.Create())
        {
            aes.Key = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(key);
            aes.IV = new byte[16]; // Initialization vector (IV)

            // Create a decryptor to perform the stream transform
            ICryptoTransform decryptor = aes.CreateDecryptor(aes.Key, aes.IV);

            // Create the streams used for decryption
            using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(Convert.FromBase64String(ciphertext)))
            {
                using (CryptoStream cs = new CryptoStream(ms, decryptor, CryptoStreamMode.Read))
                {
                    using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(cs))
                    {
                        return sr.ReadToEnd();
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Advanced Example: AES Encryption with Custom Key and IV

Let’s build upon the previous example by generating a random key and IV, ensuring the encryption is more secure.

public static string EncryptData(string plaintext)
{
    using (Aes aes = Aes.Create())
    {
        aes.Key = new byte[32]; // AES-256 requires a 256-bit key (32 bytes)
        aes.IV = new byte[16];  // 128-bit block size

        // Randomly generate key and IV
        using (RandomNumberGenerator rng = RandomNumberGenerator.Create())
        {
            rng.GetBytes(aes.Key); // Generate a random key
            rng.GetBytes(aes.IV);  // Generate a random IV
        }

        // Create an encryptor to perform the stream transform
        ICryptoTransform encryptor = aes.CreateEncryptor(aes.Key, aes.IV);

        // Create the streams used for encryption
        using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream())
        {
            using (CryptoStream cs = new CryptoStream(ms, encryptor, CryptoStreamMode.Write))
            {
                using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(cs))
                {
                    sw.Write(plaintext);
                }
            }
            return Convert.ToBase64String(ms.ToArray());
        }
    }
}

public static string EncryptData(string plaintext)
{
    using (Aes aes = Aes.Create())
    {
        aes.Key = new byte[32]; // AES-256 requires a 256-bit key (32 bytes)
        aes.IV = new byte[16];  // 128-bit block size

        // Randomly generate key and IV
        using (RandomNumberGenerator rng = RandomNumberGenerator.Create())
        {
            rng.GetBytes(aes.Key); // Generate a random key
            rng.GetBytes(aes.IV);  // Generate a random IV
        }

        // Create an encryptor to perform the stream transform
        ICryptoTransform encryptor = aes.CreateEncryptor(aes.Key, aes.IV);

        // Create the streams used for encryption
        using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream())
        {
            using (CryptoStream cs = new CryptoStream(ms, encryptor, CryptoStreamMode.Write))
            {
                using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(cs))
                {
                    sw.Write(plaintext);
                }
            }
            return Convert.ToBase64String(ms.ToArray());
        }
    }
}

In this case, we generate a new key and IV each time the function is called. This provides more robust encryption as the same key is unused for every operation. AES supports key sizes such as 128, 192, and 256 bits.

Decrypting Data with AES

Decryption is the reverse process to encrypt data. In our examples, the same key and IV used for encryption must be provided to decrypt the data. The decryption process involves converting the encrypted data back into its original form.

Here’s an example that uses the previously encrypted data:

public static string DecryptData(string ciphertext, byte[] key, byte[] iv)
{
    using (Aes aes = Aes.Create())
    {
        aes.Key = key;
        aes.IV = iv;

        // Create a decryptor to perform the stream transform
        ICryptoTransform decryptor = aes.CreateDecryptor(aes.Key, aes.IV);

        // Create the streams used for decryption
        using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(Convert.FromBase64String(ciphertext)))
        {
            using (CryptoStream cs = new CryptoStream(ms, decryptor, CryptoStreamMode.Read))
            {
                using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(cs))
                {
                    return sr.ReadToEnd();
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

public static string DecryptData(string ciphertext, byte[] key, byte[] iv)
{
    using (Aes aes = Aes.Create())
    {
        aes.Key = key;
        aes.IV = iv;

        // Create a decryptor to perform the stream transform
        ICryptoTransform decryptor = aes.CreateDecryptor(aes.Key, aes.IV);

        // Create the streams used for decryption
        using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream(Convert.FromBase64String(ciphertext)))
        {
            using (CryptoStream cs = new CryptoStream(ms, decryptor, CryptoStreamMode.Read))
            {
                using (StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(cs))
                {
                    return sr.ReadToEnd();
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

This code decrypts the encrypted data back into the original data.

IronPDF with AES Encryption

IronPDF is a simple and developer-friendly .NET library designed to generate, edit, and manipulate PDFs using simple C# code. It allows developers to create PDF documents directly from HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, which can be incredibly useful for dynamically generating reports, invoices, or other documents. With support for merging, splitting, and even adding security features like passwords or digital signatures, IronPDF is a comprehensive solution for PDF generation in .NET applications.

var htmlContent = "<h1>Confidential</h1><p>This is sensitive data.</p>";
var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(htmlContent);
pdf.SaveAs(@"C:\Reports\ConfidentialReport.pdf");

var htmlContent = "<h1>Confidential</h1><p>This is sensitive data.</p>";
var renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
var pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(htmlContent);
pdf.SaveAs(@"C:\Reports\ConfidentialReport.pdf");

byte[] pdfBytes = File.ReadAllBytes(@"C:\Reports\ConfidentialReport.pdf");
using (Aes aes = Aes.Create())
{
    aes.Key = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes("abcdefghijklmnop");
    aes.IV = new byte[16];
    using (var encryptor = aes.CreateEncryptor(aes.Key, aes.IV))
    using (var ms = new MemoryStream())
    {
        using (var cs = new CryptoStream(ms, encryptor, CryptoStreamMode.Write))
        {
            cs.Write(pdfBytes, 0, pdfBytes.Length);
        }
        File.WriteAllBytes(@"C:\Reports\ConfidentialReport.encrypted", ms.ToArray());
    }
}

byte[] pdfBytes = File.ReadAllBytes(@"C:\Reports\ConfidentialReport.pdf");
using (Aes aes = Aes.Create())
{
    aes.Key = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes("abcdefghijklmnop");
    aes.IV = new byte[16];
    using (var encryptor = aes.CreateEncryptor(aes.Key, aes.IV))
    using (var ms = new MemoryStream())
    {
        using (var cs = new CryptoStream(ms, encryptor, CryptoStreamMode.Write))
        {
            cs.Write(pdfBytes, 0, pdfBytes.Length);
        }
        File.WriteAllBytes(@"C:\Reports\ConfidentialReport.encrypted", ms.ToArray());
    }
}

Conclusion

Integrating IronPDF with AES encryption allows you to generate dynamic, secure documents that are both accessible and encrypted. Whether developing applications requiring secure document generation or managing sensitive reports, combining IronPDF with solid encryption protects your data. IronPDF simplifies working with PDFs, while AES guarantees that the content remains secure.

IronPDF offers a free trial, making it easy for developers to explore its features before committing. If you’re ready to implement IronPDF into your projects, licenses start at $799 for a one-time purchase.