diff --git a/src/esapi/ESAPI.properties b/src/esapi/ESAPI.properties
index e598bb3ebd7..fedd1042901 100644
--- a/src/esapi/ESAPI.properties
+++ b/src/esapi/ESAPI.properties
@@ -152,8 +152,14 @@ Encoder.DefaultCodecList=HTMLEntityCodec,PercentCodec,JavaScriptCodec
 # To calculate these values, you can run:
 #		java -classpath esapi.jar org.owasp.esapi.reference.crypto.JavaEncryptor
 #
-Encryptor.MasterKey=tzfztf56ftv
-Encryptor.MasterSalt=123456ztrewq
+# Intentionally left unset: SEMOSS never calls ESAPI.encryptor() (confirmed - the
+# only ESAPI usage in this codebase is ESAPI.encoder(), which does not read these),
+# and ESAPI's own DefaultSecurityConfiguration.getMasterKey()/getMasterSalt() fail
+# closed with a clear error if a caller is ever added that needs them. Leaving the
+# stock ESAPI sample values here instead would ship a publicly-known "secret" that
+# would work silently if that ever changed.
+#Encryptor.MasterKey=
+#Encryptor.MasterSalt=
 
 # Provides the default JCE provider that ESAPI will "prefer" for its symmetric
 # encryption and hashing. (That is it will look to this provider first, but it
diff --git a/test/prerna/util/UtilitySanitizerUnitTests.java b/test/prerna/util/UtilitySanitizerUnitTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9135da7ccce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/prerna/util/UtilitySanitizerUnitTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+ * Copyright 2015 Defense Health Agency (DHA)
+ *
+ * If your use of this software does not include any GPLv2 components:
+ * 	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.
+ * ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * If your use of this software includes any GPLv2 components:
+ * 	This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * 	modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
+ * 	as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
+ * 	of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * 	This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * 	but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * 	MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * 	GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *******************************************************************************/
+package prerna.util;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNull;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+/**
+ * Exercises ESAPI.encoder() through Utility's sanitizer methods. Also serves
+ * as a behavioral check that ESAPI.properties loads correctly without
+ * Encryptor.MasterKey/MasterSalt set, since ESAPI.encoder() (unlike
+ * ESAPI.encryptor(), which SEMOSS never calls) must keep working regardless.
+ */
+class UtilitySanitizerUnitTests {
+
+	@Test
+	void inputSanitizerReturnsNullForNull() {
+		assertNull(Utility.inputSanitizer(null));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void inputSanitizerStripsScriptTags() {
+		String result = Utility.inputSanitizer("<script>alert(1)</script>hello");
+		assertTrue(!result.contains("<script>"), "Expected script tag to be stripped, got: " + result);
+		assertTrue(result.contains("hello"));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void inputSanitizerPreservesPlainText() {
+		assertEquals("just plain text", Utility.inputSanitizer("just plain text"));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void inputSQLSanitizerReturnsNullForNull() {
+		assertNull(Utility.inputSQLSanitizer(null));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void inputSQLSanitizerEscapesSingleQuote() {
+		String result = Utility.inputSQLSanitizer("O'Brien");
+		assertTrue(result.contains("O") && result.contains("Brien") && !result.equals("O'Brien"),
+				"Expected the quote to be escaped, got: " + result);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void inputSQLSanitizerPreservesPlainText() {
+		assertEquals("just plain text", Utility.inputSQLSanitizer("just plain text"));
+	}
+}