About System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs 

System.Security.Cryptography.Pkcs is the namespace that contains the managed code implementation of the Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS) and Public-Key Cryptography Standards #7 (PKCS #7) standards. CMS is a superset of PKCS #7. This documentation refers to the Microsoft implementation of this combination of technologies as CMS/PKCS #7 to emphasize that there are dual standards implemented in this namespace.

For more information about CMS, see Cryptographic Message Syntax (CMS) (http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3369.txt).

For more information about PKCS #7, see PKCS #7: Cryptographic Message Syntax Standard (http://www.rsasecurity.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2129).

In This Section

The following topics provide information about managed CMS/PKCS #7.

• Security Services Provided by CMS/PKCS #7
  Provides the ability to implement several security services into an application.

• Algorithm Support in CMS/PKCS #7
  Supports many cryptographic algorithms.

• Components of a CMS/PKCS #7 Message
  Facilitates the implementation of multiple security services into a message. Attributes can also be associated with the CMS/PKCS #7 message, which yield additional information about the message.

• Types of CMS/PKCS #7 Messages
  Provides implementations of several protected message types.