diff --git a/auth/auth.go b/auth/auth.go
index f44078d..b0ba1d1 100644
--- a/auth/auth.go
+++ b/auth/auth.go
@@ -1,3 +1,17 @@
+// Copyright 2024 Florian Beisel
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
 package auth
 
 import (
@@ -8,14 +22,15 @@ import (
 )
 
 func GenerateToken(username string) (string, error) {
+	jwtKeyBytes := []byte(config.GlobalConfig.JwtKey)
+
 	expirationTime := time.Now().Add(1 * time.Hour)
 	claims := &jwt.StandardClaims{
 		Subject:   username,
 		ExpiresAt: expirationTime.Unix(),
 	}
-
 	token := jwt.NewWithClaims(jwt.SigningMethodHS256, claims)
-	tokenString, err := token.SignedString(config.GlobalConfig.JwtKey)
+	tokenString, err := token.SignedString(jwtKeyBytes)
 
 	return tokenString, err
 }
diff --git a/middleware/middleware.go b/middleware/middleware.go
index 0d7da7f..762fc89 100644
--- a/middleware/middleware.go
+++ b/middleware/middleware.go
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ func Authenticate() gin.HandlerFunc {
 			if _, ok := token.Method.(*jwt.SigningMethodHMAC); !ok {
 				return nil, fmt.Errorf("unexpected signing method")
 			}
-			return config.GlobalConfig.JwtKey, nil
+			jwtKeyBytes := []byte(config.GlobalConfig.JwtKey)
+			return jwtKeyBytes, nil
 		})
 
 		if err != nil {