Handle edge cases in sorting

**Feature request**
It would be great to have encryption for middleware.

**Use case**
Many users need this functionality for production deployments.

**Implementation idea**
Add a new config option `enable_encryption` with default `false`.

Start by resolving the mismatch between the title, which mentions sorting, and the body, which requests middleware encryption. The issue names no files, tests, or entry points, so locate the middleware configuration and existing security-related tests before deciding how the enable_encryption option should behave. Done should include a documented default of false and coverage for the requested production use case.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.