Decrypting an Encrypted Message

In this section, the steps to decrypt an encrypted message are presented. The following illustration depicts the individual tasks that must be accomplished, as shown in the list that follows it.

    To decrypt an encrypted message

1. Get a pointer to the digitally enveloped message.
2. Open a certificate store.
3. From the message, retrieve the recipient ID (My ID).
4. Use the recipient ID to retrieve the certificate.
5. Get the private key from the certificate.
6. Use the private key to decrypt the symmetric (session) key.
7. Retrieve the encryption algorithm from the message.
8. Using the private key and encryption algorithm, decrypt the data.