diff --git a/deploy/docker/auth.py b/deploy/docker/auth.py
index f9e75d78..6fcef339 100644
--- a/deploy/docker/auth.py
+++ b/deploy/docker/auth.py
@@ -28,25 +28,43 @@ def create_access_token(data: dict, expires_delta: Optional[timedelta] = None) -
     signing_key = get_jwk_from_secret(SECRET_KEY)
     return instance.encode(to_encode, signing_key, alg='HS256')
 
-def verify_token(credentials: HTTPAuthorizationCredentials = Depends(security)) -> Dict:
+def verify_token(credentials: HTTPAuthorizationCredentials) -> Dict:
     """Verify the JWT token from the Authorization header."""
-
-    if credentials is None:
-        return None
+    
+    if not credentials or not credentials.credentials:
+        raise HTTPException(
+            status_code=401, 
+            detail="No token provided",
+            headers={"WWW-Authenticate": "Bearer"}
+        )
+    
     token = credentials.credentials
     verifying_key = get_jwk_from_secret(SECRET_KEY)
     try:
         payload = instance.decode(token, verifying_key, do_time_check=True, algorithms='HS256')
         return payload
-    except Exception:
-        raise HTTPException(status_code=401, detail="Invalid or expired token")
+    except Exception as e:
+        raise HTTPException(
+            status_code=401, 
+            detail=f"Invalid or expired token: {str(e)}",
+            headers={"WWW-Authenticate": "Bearer"}
+        )
 
 
 def get_token_dependency(config: Dict):
     """Return the token dependency if JWT is enabled, else a function that returns None."""
-
+    
     if config.get("security", {}).get("jwt_enabled", False):
-        return verify_token
+        def jwt_required(credentials: HTTPAuthorizationCredentials = Depends(security)) -> Dict:
+            """Enforce JWT authentication when enabled."""
+            if credentials is None:
+                raise HTTPException(
+                    status_code=401, 
+                    detail="Authentication required. Please provide a valid Bearer token.",
+                    headers={"WWW-Authenticate": "Bearer"}
+                )
+            return verify_token(credentials)
+        return jwt_required
     else:
         return lambda: None
 
diff --git a/deploy/docker/config.yml b/deploy/docker/config.yml
index f5046613..35371375 100644
--- a/deploy/docker/config.yml
+++ b/deploy/docker/config.yml
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ rate_limiting:
 
 # Security Configuration
 security:
-  enabled: false 
-  jwt_enabled: false 
+  enabled: false
+  jwt_enabled: false
   https_redirect: false
   trusted_hosts: ["*"]
   headers: