How to Generate Unique Public and Private Key via RSA

Question

I am building a custom shopping cart where CC numbers and Exp date will be stored in a database until processing (then deleted). I need to encrypt this data (obviously).

Answer 1

The RSACryptoServiceProvider(CspParameters) constructor creates a keypair which is stored in the keystore on the local machine. If you already have a keypair with the specified name, it uses the existing keypair.

It sounds as if you are not interested in having the key stored on the machine.

So use the RSACryptoServiceProvider(Int32) constructor:

public static void AssignNewKey(){
    RSA rsa = new RSACryptoServiceProvider(2048); // Generate a new 2048 bit RSA key

    string publicPrivateKeyXML = rsa.ToXmlString(true);
    string publicOnlyKeyXML = rsa.ToXmlString(false);
    // do stuff with keys...
}

EDIT:

Alternatively try setting the PersistKeyInCsp to false:

public static void AssignNewKey(){
    const int PROVIDER_RSA_FULL = 1;
    const string CONTAINER_NAME = "KeyContainer";
    CspParameters cspParams;
    cspParams = new CspParameters(PROVIDER_RSA_FULL);
    cspParams.KeyContainerName = CONTAINER_NAME;
    cspParams.Flags = CspProviderFlags.UseMachineKeyStore;
    cspParams.ProviderName = "Microsoft Strong Cryptographic Provider";
    rsa = new RSACryptoServiceProvider(cspParams);

    rsa.PersistKeyInCsp = false;

    string publicPrivateKeyXML = rsa.ToXmlString(true);
    string publicOnlyKeyXML = rsa.ToXmlString(false);
    // do stuff with keys...
}