“Invalid provider type specified” CryptographicException when trying to load private key of certificate

Question

I\'m trying to read the private key of a certificate which has been shared with me by a third-party service provider, so I can use it to encrypt some XML before sending it t

Answer 1

After following the accepted answer (specifying KeySpec), the exception changed to System.Security.Cryptography.CryptographicException: Invalid provider type specified.. I resolved that exception by giving my web application access to the private key (IIS_IUSRS). I discovered that this would also fix the problem with my original certificate. So before generating and deploying new certificates, check the private key's permissions as well.