diff --git a/PortBlog.API/PortBlog.API.csproj b/PortBlog.API/PortBlog.API.csproj
index cf49513..1abaca1 100644
--- a/PortBlog.API/PortBlog.API.csproj
+++ b/PortBlog.API/PortBlog.API.csproj
@@ -10,10 +10,10 @@
 
   <ItemGroup>
     <PackageReference Include="Asp.Versioning.Mvc" Version="8.1.1" />
-    <PackageReference Include="Asp.Versioning.Mvc.ApiExplorer" Version="8.1.0" />
-    <PackageReference Include="AutoMapper" Version="15.0.1" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Asp.Versioning.Mvc.ApiExplorer" Version="8.1.1" />
+    <PackageReference Include="AutoMapper" Version="16.0.0" />
     <PackageReference Include="BCrypt.Net-Next" Version="4.0.3" />
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authentication.JwtBearer" Version="9.0.10" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authentication.JwtBearer" Version="10.0.3" />
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.NewtonsoftJson" Version="9.0.9" />
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore" Version="9.0.9" />
     <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools" Version="9.0.9">
diff --git a/PortBlog.API/Program.cs b/PortBlog.API/Program.cs
index 1389589..b31ba14 100644
--- a/PortBlog.API/Program.cs
+++ b/PortBlog.API/Program.cs
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ using PortBlog.API.Middleware;
 using Serilog;
 using System.Reflection;
 using System.Text;
-
+using KBR.Shared.Extensions;
 
 
 var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
@@ -131,14 +131,13 @@ builder.Services.AddSwaggerGen(c =>
         Scheme = "ApiKeyScheme"
     });
 
-    var key = new OpenApiSecurityScheme()
+    var key = new OpenApiSecurityScheme
     {
         Reference = new OpenApiReference
         {
             Type = ReferenceType.SecurityScheme,
             Id = "ApiKey"
-        },
-        In = ParameterLocation.Header
+        }
     };
 
     // JWT Bearer Security Definition
diff --git a/PortBlog.API/appsettings.Development.json b/PortBlog.API/appsettings.Development.json
index 8598e30..1f73a69 100644
--- a/PortBlog.API/appsettings.Development.json
+++ b/PortBlog.API/appsettings.Development.json
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
   },
   "Cache": {
     "ConnectionString": "SERVER=192.168.0.197; DATABASE=cv_blog; UID=PortBlogDevUser; PWD=p@$$w0rd1234;Allow User Variables=true;",
+    "Encryption": "false",
     "Provider": "SqlServer"
   },
   "Jwt": {
diff --git a/PortBlog.Tests/PortBlog.Tests.csproj b/PortBlog.Tests/PortBlog.Tests.csproj
index db296aa..163250f 100644
--- a/PortBlog.Tests/PortBlog.Tests.csproj
+++ b/PortBlog.Tests/PortBlog.Tests.csproj
@@ -8,10 +8,16 @@
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
-    <PackageReference Include="coverlet.collector" Version="6.0.4" />
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk" Version="17.14.1" />
+    <PackageReference Include="coverlet.collector" Version="8.0.0">
+      <PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
+      <IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers; buildtransitive</IncludeAssets>
+    </PackageReference>
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk" Version="18.0.1" />
     <PackageReference Include="xunit" Version="2.9.3" />
-    <PackageReference Include="xunit.runner.visualstudio" Version="3.1.4" />
+    <PackageReference Include="xunit.runner.visualstudio" Version="3.1.5">
+      <PrivateAssets>all</PrivateAssets>
+      <IncludeAssets>runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers; buildtransitive</IncludeAssets>
+    </PackageReference>
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
diff --git a/Shared/KBR.Cache/Extensions/ServiceCollectionExtensions.cs b/Shared/KBR.Cache/Extensions/ServiceCollectionExtensions.cs
index 9233798..6661a32 100644
--- a/Shared/KBR.Cache/Extensions/ServiceCollectionExtensions.cs
+++ b/Shared/KBR.Cache/Extensions/ServiceCollectionExtensions.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 using KBR.Cache.Constants;
 using KBR.Cache.Options;
+using KBR.Shared.Extensions;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.Extensions;
@@ -20,9 +21,14 @@ namespace KBR.Cache.Extensions
             }
             else if (cacheOptions.Provider == CacheProviders.SqlServer)
             {
+                var connectionString = cacheOptions.ConnectionString;
+                if ((bool)cacheOptions.Encryption)
+                {
+                    connectionString = configuration.DecryptConnectionString(connectionString);
+                }
                 services.AddDistributedMySqlCache(options =>
                 {
-                    options.ConnectionString = cacheOptions.ConnectionString;
+                    options.ConnectionString = connectionString;
                     options.TableName = "Cache";
                 });
             }
diff --git a/Shared/KBR.Cache/KBR.Cache.csproj b/Shared/KBR.Cache/KBR.Cache.csproj
index 2c97411..9e1d787 100644
--- a/Shared/KBR.Cache/KBR.Cache.csproj
+++ b/Shared/KBR.Cache/KBR.Cache.csproj
@@ -7,14 +7,14 @@
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory" Version="9.0.9" />
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.SqlServer" Version="9.0.9" />
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.StackExchangeRedis" Version="9.0.9" />
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Abstractions" Version="9.0.9" />
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Binder" Version="9.0.9" />
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.Abstractions" Version="9.0.9" />
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.Abstractions" Version="9.0.9" />
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Options" Version="9.0.9" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Memory" Version="10.0.3" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.SqlServer" Version="10.0.3" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.StackExchangeRedis" Version="10.0.3" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Abstractions" Version="10.0.3" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Binder" Version="10.0.3" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection.Abstractions" Version="10.0.3" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.Abstractions" Version="10.0.3" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Options" Version="10.0.3" />
     <PackageReference Include="Pomelo.Extensions.Caching.MySql" Version="2.2.1" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
diff --git a/Shared/KBR.Cache/Options/CacheOptions.cs b/Shared/KBR.Cache/Options/CacheOptions.cs
index 4f0c502..b90a250 100644
--- a/Shared/KBR.Cache/Options/CacheOptions.cs
+++ b/Shared/KBR.Cache/Options/CacheOptions.cs
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
     {
         public string Provider { get; set; } = null!;
 
+        public bool? Encryption { get; set; } = false;
+
         public string? ConnectionString { get; set; }
     }
 }
diff --git a/PortBlog.API/Extensions/ConfigurationExtensions.cs b/Shared/KBR.Shared/Extensions/ConfigurationExtensions.cs
similarity index 83%
rename from PortBlog.API/Extensions/ConfigurationExtensions.cs
rename to Shared/KBR.Shared/Extensions/ConfigurationExtensions.cs
index dd0763a..7a026c5 100644
--- a/PortBlog.API/Extensions/ConfigurationExtensions.cs
+++ b/Shared/KBR.Shared/Extensions/ConfigurationExtensions.cs
@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
-using System.Security.Cryptography;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration;
+using System.Security.Cryptography;
 
-namespace PortBlog.API.Extensions
+namespace KBR.Shared.Extensions
 {
     public static class ConfigurationExtensions
     {
         public static string DecryptConnectionString(this IConfiguration configuration, string encryptedConnectionString)
         {
-            string keyBase64 = configuration.GetValue<string>("ConnectionStrings:Key").ToString();
+            // Fix: Use GetSection and Value instead of GetValue (since GetValue is not available on IConfiguration)
+            string keyBase64 = configuration.GetSection("ConnectionStrings:Key").Value;
 
             string vectorBase64 = encryptedConnectionString.Split(":")[1];
             string cipherText = encryptedConnectionString.Split(":")[0];
diff --git a/Shared/KBR.Shared/KBR.Shared.csproj b/Shared/KBR.Shared/KBR.Shared.csproj
index 5a714a1..69ee995 100644
--- a/Shared/KBR.Shared/KBR.Shared.csproj
+++ b/Shared/KBR.Shared/KBR.Shared.csproj
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
-    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Abstractions" Version="9.0.9" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Caching.Abstractions" Version="10.0.3" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Abstractions" Version="10.0.3" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>