Method for providing encrypted information and encrypting entity

A method for a first operating entity of one or more operating entities of a software-defined network (SDN) to configure or reconfigure a first network device of one or more network devices of the SDN, the method comprising:

• providing, by the one or more network devices, tuples of plaintext information, wherein each tuple comprises identification (ID) information, one or more fields, field information specifying the one or more fields, and values;
• encrypting, by the one or more network devices, at least the values of the tuples of plaintext information via non-deterministic order preserving encryption using at least one encryption key such that each plaintext value is encrypted into a respective set of encrypted values, wherein each respective set of encrypted values is portioned into a left set and a right set with each element in the left set being smaller than each element in the right set;
• storing, by the one or more network devices, the encrypted values by storing at least one of the left set or the right set for each respective set of encrypted values;
• and
• receiving, by the one or more network devices, from the first operating entity, a request relating to the encrypted information, wherein the request includes configuration or reconfiguration of the first network device by modifying a flow table of the first network device.