diff --git a/SECURITY.md b/SECURITY.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b7486394
--- /dev/null
+++ b/SECURITY.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+# Security Policy
+
+If you discover a vulnerability in the package, please  raise an issue with the description of the security problem you have discovered.
+
+Contributions with the fixes are welcome, so feel free to create a Pull Request with a fix :)
diff --git a/src/runtime/server/middleware/basicAuth.ts b/src/runtime/server/middleware/basicAuth.ts
index 82fee4f2..32e869d1 100644
--- a/src/runtime/server/middleware/basicAuth.ts
+++ b/src/runtime/server/middleware/basicAuth.ts
@@ -20,11 +20,22 @@ const securityConfig = useRuntimeConfig().private
 
 export default defineEventHandler((event) => {
   const credentials = getCredentials(event.node.req)
-  const basicAuthConfig: BasicAuth = securityConfig.basicAuth
+  const basicAuthConfig = securityConfig.basicAuth
 
-  if (basicAuthConfig?.exclude?.some(el => event.path?.startsWith(el)) || basicAuthConfig?.include?.some(el => !event.path?.startsWith(el))) { return }
+  // Check for exclusion paths
+  const excludePaths = basicAuthConfig?.exclude || ['/']
+  const isPathExcluded = excludePaths.some(el => event.path?.startsWith(el))
 
-  if (!credentials || !validateCredentials(credentials!, basicAuthConfig)) {
+  // Check for inclusion paths
+  const includePaths = basicAuthConfig?.include || []
+  const isPathIncluded = includePaths.some(el => event.path?.startsWith(el))
+
+  if (isPathExcluded && !isPathIncluded) {
+    return
+  }
+
+  if (!credentials || !validateCredentials(credentials, basicAuthConfig)) {
+    // Set the authentication header and send an error response
     setHeader(event, 'WWW-Authenticate', `Basic realm=${basicAuthConfig.message || 'Please enter username and password'}`)
     sendError(event, createError({ statusCode: 401, statusMessage: 'Access denied' }))
   }
diff --git a/test/basicAuth.test.ts b/test/basicAuth.test.ts
index a45477b5..a8601f39 100644
--- a/test/basicAuth.test.ts
+++ b/test/basicAuth.test.ts
@@ -19,4 +19,28 @@ describe('[nuxt-security] Basic Auth', async () => {
 
     expect(res.status).toBe(200)
   })
+
+  it ('should return 401 status code for included route', async () => {
+    const res = await fetch('/api/hello/world/nuxt')
+
+    expect(res.status).toBe(401)
+  })
+
+  it ('should return 200 status code for multiple included route', async () => {
+    const res = await fetch('/admin')
+
+    expect(res.status).toBe(401)
+  })
+
+  it ('should return 200 status code for multiple excluded route', async () => {
+    const res = await fetch('/content')
+
+    expect(res.status).toBe(200)
+  })
+
+  it ('should return a 401 status code for any arbitrary path', async () => {
+    const res = await fetch('/arbitrary')
+
+    expect(res.status).toBe(401)
+  })
 })
diff --git a/test/fixtures/basicAuth/nuxt.config.ts b/test/fixtures/basicAuth/nuxt.config.ts
index 21c4e02f..eba75824 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/basicAuth/nuxt.config.ts
+++ b/test/fixtures/basicAuth/nuxt.config.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ export default defineNuxtConfig({
   ],
   security: {
     basicAuth: {
-      exclude: ['/api'],
+      exclude: ['/api', '/content'],
+      include: ['/api/hello/world', '/admin'],
       name: 'test',
       pass: 'test',
       enabled: true,