Methods, apparatus and systems are provided for implementing an encryption scheme for providing a software image to a secure element. The software image is converted into a sequence of ciphered blocks, which is protected with an authentication tag to obtain a sequence of protected blocks, which are then transmitted to an update agent on the secure element. The steps of converting the software image into a sequence of ciphered blocks and protecting the sequence of ciphered blocks with an authentication tag are implemented by an authenticated encryption function using a same block cipher.