diff --git a/doc/xml/release.xml b/doc/xml/release.xml
index c9d4fde18..bbafa1981 100644
--- a/doc/xml/release.xml
+++ b/doc/xml/release.xml
@@ -13,6 +13,17 @@
 
     <release-list>
         <release date="XXXX-XX-XX" version="2.18dev" title="UNDER DEVELOPMENT">
+            <release-core-list>
+                <release-development-list>
+                    <release-item>
+                        <release-item-contributor-list>
+                            <release-item-reviewer id="cynthia.shang"/>
+                        </release-item-contributor-list>
+
+                        <p>Add helper function for adding <code>CipherBlock</code> filters to groups.</p>
+                    </release-item>
+                </release-development-list>
+            </release-core-list>
         </release>
 
         <release date="2019-09-03" version="2.17" title="C Migrations and Bug Fixes">
diff --git a/src/Makefile.in b/src/Makefile.in
index 0c5318ba7..2c5428049 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.in
+++ b/src/Makefile.in
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ common/compress/gzip/compress.o: common/compress/gzip/compress.c build.auto.h co
 common/compress/gzip/decompress.o: common/compress/gzip/decompress.c build.auto.h common/assert.h common/compress/gzip/common.h common/compress/gzip/decompress.h common/debug.h common/error.auto.h common/error.h common/io/filter/filter.h common/io/filter/filter.intern.h common/log.h common/logLevel.h common/macro.h common/memContext.h common/object.h common/stackTrace.h common/type/buffer.h common/type/convert.h common/type/keyValue.h common/type/string.h common/type/stringList.h common/type/variant.h common/type/variantList.h
 	$(CC) $(CPPFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) $(CMAKE) -c common/compress/gzip/decompress.c -o common/compress/gzip/decompress.o
 
-common/crypto/cipherBlock.o: common/crypto/cipherBlock.c build.auto.h common/assert.h common/crypto/cipherBlock.h common/crypto/common.h common/debug.h common/error.auto.h common/error.h common/io/filter/filter.h common/io/filter/filter.intern.h common/log.h common/logLevel.h common/macro.h common/memContext.h common/object.h common/stackTrace.h common/type/buffer.h common/type/convert.h common/type/keyValue.h common/type/string.h common/type/stringList.h common/type/variant.h common/type/variantList.h
+common/crypto/cipherBlock.o: common/crypto/cipherBlock.c build.auto.h common/assert.h common/crypto/cipherBlock.h common/crypto/common.h common/debug.h common/error.auto.h common/error.h common/io/filter/filter.h common/io/filter/filter.intern.h common/io/filter/group.h common/log.h common/logLevel.h common/macro.h common/memContext.h common/object.h common/stackTrace.h common/type/buffer.h common/type/convert.h common/type/keyValue.h common/type/string.h common/type/stringList.h common/type/variant.h common/type/variantList.h
 	$(CC) $(CPPFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) $(CMAKE) -c common/crypto/cipherBlock.c -o common/crypto/cipherBlock.o
 
 common/crypto/common.o: common/crypto/common.c build.auto.h common/assert.h common/crypto/common.h common/debug.h common/error.auto.h common/error.h common/log.h common/logLevel.h common/stackTrace.h common/type/convert.h
diff --git a/src/common/crypto/cipherBlock.c b/src/common/crypto/cipherBlock.c
index 22a1547d1..25bef08b1 100644
--- a/src/common/crypto/cipherBlock.c
+++ b/src/common/crypto/cipherBlock.c
@@ -460,3 +460,25 @@ cipherBlockNewVar(const VariantList *paramList)
         (CipherMode)varUIntForce(varLstGet(paramList, 0)), (CipherType)varUIntForce(varLstGet(paramList, 1)),
         BUFSTR(varStr(varLstGet(paramList, 2))), varLstGet(paramList, 3) == NULL ? NULL : varStr(varLstGet(paramList, 3)));
 }
+
+/***********************************************************************************************************************************
+Helper function to add a block cipher to an io object
+***********************************************************************************************************************************/
+IoFilterGroup *
+cipherBlockFilterGroupAdd(IoFilterGroup *filterGroup, CipherType type, CipherMode mode, const String *pass)
+{
+    FUNCTION_LOG_BEGIN(logLevelTrace);
+        FUNCTION_LOG_PARAM(IO_FILTER_GROUP, filterGroup);
+        FUNCTION_LOG_PARAM(ENUM, type);
+        FUNCTION_LOG_PARAM(ENUM, mode);
+        FUNCTION_LOG_PARAM(STRING, pass);
+    FUNCTION_LOG_END();
+
+    ASSERT(filterGroup != NULL);
+    ASSERT((type == cipherTypeNone && pass == NULL) || (type != cipherTypeNone && pass != NULL));
+
+    if (type != cipherTypeNone)
+        ioFilterGroupAdd(filterGroup, cipherBlockNew(mode, type, BUFSTR(pass), NULL));
+
+    FUNCTION_LOG_RETURN(IO_FILTER_GROUP, filterGroup);
+}
diff --git a/src/common/crypto/cipherBlock.h b/src/common/crypto/cipherBlock.h
index 3a8964e65..ad9ef7ef2 100644
--- a/src/common/crypto/cipherBlock.h
+++ b/src/common/crypto/cipherBlock.h
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ Block Cipher Header
 #ifndef COMMON_CRYPTO_CIPHERBLOCK_H
 #define COMMON_CRYPTO_CIPHERBLOCK_H
 
-#include "common/io/filter/filter.h"
+#include "common/io/filter/group.h"
 #include "common/crypto/common.h"
 
 /***********************************************************************************************************************************
@@ -19,4 +19,9 @@ Constructor
 IoFilter *cipherBlockNew(CipherMode mode, CipherType cipherType, const Buffer *pass, const String *digestName);
 IoFilter *cipherBlockNewVar(const VariantList *paramList);
 
+/***********************************************************************************************************************************
+Helper functions
+***********************************************************************************************************************************/
+IoFilterGroup *cipherBlockFilterGroupAdd(IoFilterGroup *filterGroup, CipherType type, CipherMode mode, const String *pass);
+
 #endif
diff --git a/test/src/module/common/cryptoTest.c b/test/src/module/common/cryptoTest.c
index c4e70e24d..f9dc27942 100644
--- a/test/src/module/common/cryptoTest.c
+++ b/test/src/module/common/cryptoTest.c
@@ -285,6 +285,18 @@ testRun(void)
         TEST_ERROR(ioFilterProcessInOut(blockDecryptFilter, NULL, decryptBuffer), CryptoError, "unable to flush");
 
         ioFilterFree(blockDecryptFilter);
+
+        // Helper function
+        // -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+        IoFilterGroup *filterGroup = ioFilterGroupNew();
+
+        TEST_RESULT_PTR(
+            cipherBlockFilterGroupAdd(filterGroup, cipherTypeNone, cipherModeEncrypt, NULL), filterGroup, "   no filter add");
+        TEST_RESULT_UINT(ioFilterGroupSize(filterGroup), 0, "    check no filter add");
+
+        TEST_RESULT_VOID(
+            cipherBlockFilterGroupAdd(filterGroup, cipherTypeAes256Cbc, cipherModeEncrypt, STRDEF("X")), "   filter add");
+        TEST_RESULT_UINT(ioFilterGroupSize(filterGroup), 1, "    check filter add");
     }
 
     // *****************************************************************************************************************************