PKCS7 SignedData Detached Signature

How to create a PKCS7 detached signature. The resulting PKCS7 structure is encoded to a printable string using hex or base64 encoding. The data being signed is not included in the PKCS#7 structure.

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Download Chilkat .NET for 1.0 / 1.1 Framework

Dim crypt As New Chilkat.Crypt2()

'  Any string argument automatically begins the 30-day trial.
Dim success As Boolean
success = crypt.UnlockComponent("30-day trial")
If (success <> true) Then
    MsgBox("Crypt component unlock failed")
    Exit Sub
End If


Dim cert As New Chilkat.Cert()
success = cert.LoadByCommonName("Chilkat Software")
If (success <> true) Then
    MsgBox(cert.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


'  Make sure this certificate has a private key available:
Dim bHasPrivateKey As Boolean
bHasPrivateKey = cert.HasPrivateKey()
If (bHasPrivateKey <> true) Then
    MsgBox("No private key available for signing.")
    Exit Sub
End If


'  Tell the encryption component to use this cert.
crypt.SetSigningCert(cert)

Dim strData As String
strData = "This is the data to be signed."

'  Indicate that the PKCS7 signature should be returned
'  as a base64 encoded string:
crypt.EncodingMode = "base64"

'  The EncodingMode may be set to other values such as
'  "hex", "url", "quoted-printable", etc.

Dim strSignature As String
strSignature = crypt.SignStringENC(strData)

TextBox1.Text = TextBox1.Text & strSignature & vbCrLf

'  Now verify the signature against the original data.

'  Tell the component what certificate to use for verification.
crypt.SetVerifyCert(cert)

success = crypt.VerifyStringENC(strData,strSignature)
If (success = true) Then
    MsgBox("digital signature verified")
Else
    MsgBox("digital signature invalid")
End If


'  Try it with incorrect data:
success = crypt.VerifyStringENC("This is not the signed data",strSignature)
If (success = true) Then
    MsgBox("digital signature verified")
Else
    MsgBox("digital signature invalid")
End If