> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://openvector.gitbook.io/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://openvector.gitbook.io/docs/quick-start/editor-1.md).

# Encrypting Data

In this article we continue our quick start series. We assume that you are following from the previous article.

#### 3. Create Tensors of Encrypted Data

We will create two tensors (`ct1` and `ct2`) of encrypted data to perform matrix multiplication.

```cpp
    // Define dimensions for the matrices
    size_t n = 8, m = 8, p = 8;

    size_t n = 8, m = 8, p = 8;
    Tensor<CPUCryptoSystem::PlainText*> pt1(n, m, nullptr);
    pt1.flatten();
    for (size_t i = 0; i < n * m; i++) {
        pt1.at(i) = new CPUCryptoSystem::PlainText(cs.make_plaintext(i + 1));
    }

    Tensor<CPUCryptoSystem::PlainText*> pt2(m, p, nullptr);
    pt2.flatten();
    for (size_t i = 0; i < m * p; i++) {
        pt2.at(i) = new CPUCryptoSystem::PlainText(cs.make_plaintext(i + 1));
    }

    pt1.reshape({n, m});
    pt2.reshape({m, p});
    auto ct1 = cs.encrypt_tensor(client_node.network_public_key(), pt1);
    auto ct2 = cs.encrypt_tensor(client_node.network_public_key(), pt2);
```

**Explanation:**

* We define the dimensions for our matrices.
* We create two tensors `ct1` and `ct2` initialized with `nullptr`.
* The `flatten` method simplifies the traversal of all elements.
* We use lambda functions `init_ct1` and `init_ct2` to initialize each element:
  * Create a plaintext with an incremented float value.
  * Encrypt the plaintext using the network's public key.
  * Store the ciphertext in the tensor.
* After initialization, we reshape the tensors back to their matrix dimensions.

#### 4. Serialize Tensors

Before creating a compute request, we need to serialize the tensors.

```cpp
    // Serialize the tensors of ciphertexts
    std::string serialized_ct1 = cs.serialize_ciphertext_tensor(ct1);
    std::string serialized_ct2 = cs.serialize_ciphertext_tensor(ct2);
```

**Explanation:**

* The `serialize_ciphertext_tensor` method converts the tensor of ciphertexts into a string for transmission.