Handle edge cases in serialization

**Description**
Currently controllers lacks proper encryption support.

**Proposed solution**
Add configurable encryption with sensible defaults.

**Priority**: Low/Medium

Start by locating the controllers and serialization code referred to in the issue, then trace how controller data is currently handled. Define the encryption configuration and sensible defaults from the existing project conventions; done means controllers support configurable encryption without breaking serialization.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.