diff --git a/imagecreator/backend/app/core/security.py b/imagecreator/backend/app/core/security.py
index 97e5022..97edd01 100644
--- a/imagecreator/backend/app/core/security.py
+++ b/imagecreator/backend/app/core/security.py
@@ -1 +1,32 @@
-"""Security utilities placeholder."""
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta
+from typing import Optional, Any
+from types import SimpleNamespace
+from jose import JWTError, jwt
+from passlib.context import CryptContext
+
+from app.config import settings
+
+pwd_context = CryptContext(schemes=["bcrypt"], deprecated="auto")
+
+def hash_password(password: str) -> str:
+    return pwd_context.hash(password)
+
+def verify_password(plain_password: str, hashed_password: str) -> bool:
+    return pwd_context.verify(plain_password, hashed_password)
+
+def create_access_token(data: dict, expires_delta: Optional[timedelta] = None) -> str:
+    to_encode = data.copy()
+    if expires_delta:
+        expire = datetime.utcnow() + expires_delta
+    else:
+        expire = datetime.utcnow() + timedelta(minutes=settings.ACCESS_TOKEN_EXPIRE_MINUTES)
+    to_encode.update({"exp": expire})
+    encoded_jwt = jwt.encode(to_encode, settings.SECRET_KEY, algorithm=settings.ALGORITHM)
+    return encoded_jwt
+
+def decode_access_token(token: str) -> Optional[SimpleNamespace]:
+    try:
+        payload = jwt.decode(token, settings.SECRET_KEY, algorithms=[settings.ALGORITHM])
+        return SimpleNamespace(**payload)
+    except JWTError:
+        return None
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/imagecreator/backend/tests/test_security.py b/imagecreator/backend/tests/test_security.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4eaa90a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/imagecreator/backend/tests/test_security.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import pytest
+from app.core.security import verify_password, hash_password, create_access_token, decode_access_token
+
+def test_password_hash_and_verify():
+    password = "testpassword123"
+    hashed = hash_password(password)
+
+    assert hashed != password
+    assert verify_password(password, hashed) is True
+    assert verify_password("wrongpassword", hashed) is False
+
+def test_access_token_creation_and_decode():
+    token = create_access_token({"sub": "testuser"})
+
+    assert token is not None
+    payload = decode_access_token(token)
+
+    assert payload is not None
+    assert payload.sub == "testuser"
\ No newline at end of file